Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Nectar Plants for Butterflies&Hummers Seed Exchg. Discussion, 1 by debnes_dfw_tx

debnes_dfw_tx wrote:
From the Host Plants Discussion Thread
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/661953/

Quoting:deb---
One thing, though, about butterflies and hummers--the hummers like a somewhat different nectar plant selection from the BFs--
hummers go more for (red ?) tubular flowers--trumpet vines, honeysuckles, cardinal flowers, etc., and the BFs seem to go more for flowers with 'landing stations' like cone flowers. sedums, and the color purple (some say).
It took me a while to figure this out! )-: Also, hummers like to eat insects and I wonder if that includes tiny caterpillars?
~T

Thanks T,
Glad you brought out that distinction about Nectar providing blooms, good to keep in mind as we go along. They probably share as many in common as they do separately. That would be something to point out again and again as we go along too.
I don't believe caterpillars would be in any danger fropm being eaten by hummers, because they like smaller flying insects like mosquitos and other flies.

I was very impressed by how this fellow DGer trained his to grow and in this picture you can see what I mean by size is important thing when it comes to choosing where to install these plants:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/39966/

I know one plant the hummers and butterflies both loved this year. Whoever plants this shrub will want a permanent position with plenty of room. Some get as tall as 20+ feet tall over the course of 15 years time. They also can be pruned and cared for to keep much much smaller. It is similar to the common Buddelija, however hummers lik it much better. It is called by several names: Texas Lilac, Vitex, Chaste Tree & Monks Pepper, just to mention a few. Butterflies love it too, though about the same as Buddelija. I had both plants this year, about 10 feet away from each other. It was not hard to see which one who preferred in real garden time.

A picture says a thousand words:
These little hummers would come to it about every 10-15 minutes or so throughout the hot days of Summer.

This message was edited Nov 3, 2006 8:02 PM