We may not have hummingbirds...

...but we've got hummingbird moths! And they're back! :-)

This little guy caught me off guard, but luckily I was out in the garden to take pics anyway....so my camera was in hand. He sure is a quick little guy though.....impossible to focus on him before he flits to yet another flower. He tolerated me well while I took these pics from a meter away. I tried getting just a wee bit closer though and he buzzed around and around me trying to scare me away. When I responded by just standing there unimpressed ;-), he gave up and flew away. That wasn't what I intended...just wanted him to realize I wasn't a threat, but oh well. I'm very excited that this season is starting and I hope to be able to capture these little guys with more clarity as the spring and summer progress :-).

-Julie

and another pic :-)

I have only seen a hummingbird moth once. It was so neat! I love that salvia! Is it blue like that or is that just the pic?

Thanks KKB, I really love that one too. It does look like that....it's Indigo Spires and I think that soil, placement, etc tend to affect the color just a bit so that for some people it might be much more purple than this. I put him in the garden in September or October as a little 8 inch baby. Now he's well over a meter in every direction :-)

-Julie

This message was edited Apr 18, 2005 3:05 PM

That's a really cool moth Julie. I didn't know there was such a thing as we don't have them here. That salvia is beautiful too. I love blue flowers so I'll have to try to look for that one.

Sandy

Indigo Spires is now on my list. Thanks Julie! I've never seen the moth!

I've seen pics of Indigo Spires and kept my eye out for them, but wasn't looking for that deep blue. I bet they will be more purple here.

Never seen one of these before! Super photos! Thanks for sharing them with us.

Here's a link to a much better shot of this kind of hummingbird moth (aka hawk moth or sphinx moth) Macroglossum stellatarum and others indigenous Israel:

http://www.nature-of-oz.com/sphingidae.htm (doesn't the first one on the page look like it has a Matryoshka doll on it's back? LOL)

-Julie

Very Cool! I actually had that first moth last year on my Moonflowers at night. They were so drawn to the scent, that they would let us get close and watch them!

I rescued a pair of cat's from a neighbor, as they were "riddling" her shrub one morning. I took them to the local elementary science teacher for the kids to observe, and turn loose there.

m-

Moonflowers are now on my list, too! I will need more land soon.

Hi salvia_lover...I have a question for ya. You mentioned something about soil as a one of the contributing factors to the color of the salvia....what do you add or not add? I love the color....it would be awesome to try to duplicate the color. Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Lisa

Sorry Lisa, you misunderstood. I said that I *think* this might affect the color. What I meant was that one person's clay soil might make the color turn out one way whereas another person's more sandy soil might make it slightly lighter or darker. Same with sun, shade, wind, amount of watering, etc. I just use regular fertilizer (20-20-20) throughout the growing season on all my plants. Nothing special. No tricks :-). I couldn't duplicate this color if you asked me to LOL. My soil is fairly heavy clay and the plant gets direct sun from early morning until about 2 in the afternoon.....and even after that it's getting lots of indirect light as it isn't under anything....just against a wall that blocks direct sun for it after 2 p.m.

-Julie

Thanks Julie ;-) Beautiful picture....I added it to my 'want' list.