Put up a feeder and it actually worked! So now what, the only plants that I have that I have seen them on are holly hocks and columbine - is there any one out there that can donate a few seeds?
I ultimately want to be able to have "season" long vegetation for these guys so any info how to accomplish that in Utah would be much appreciated.
My neighborhood is not bird freindly in the slightest (feral cats and lawn, lawns, and more lawns, 2 neighbors have maybe 10 flowering plants between them. I have been renovating the interior of the house and "making" good dirt in the yard (it was a atv track when I bought it) and just do not have the cash to do more than that at this time. Is there anything I can do to make my area more hospitable? I keep my cat indoors and he just loves the Hummingbird channel (aka the window)'
TIA
Just became addicted I admit it I need HELP!
We moved into a place that was hummer-heaven! There's
a trumpet vine going up the barn and a very old rose of sharon.
The hummers go back and forth in late summer. I've been
adding lots of flowers for them - they especially love the lobelia
cardinalis and petunias. The latter both can be started from
seed.
Have fun!
Tam
MQN: I dropped my humming bird feeder about a month ago and bought 2 new ones at Walmart recently and now the hummingbirds are back! We plant some geraniums each year in baskets and the hummingbirds like them. If you plant flowers and put up your feeder you will likely have hummers. They are so much fun to watch. Good luck!
cuckoo
They also love fuschias and the red varieties of sage.
I have annuals in pots outside my office window. Pentas, Torenia, red sage and mandevilla. They like all of it. I put a hanging basket feeder in one of the pots and they fight over it. I also planted scarlet runner bean cause they like the flowers. Becky
Hi! I am so excited to find a fellow Daves Gardener from SLC Utah. My hubby and I have had great success with hummers in our yard. We even had a hummingbird nest this year with 2 cute little babies. The plants that I see our hummers at in our yard are Lions Tail, Coral Honeysuckle (they love this one and it blooms all season), red and orange trumpet vines (they love this one too), nasturtium, orange hummingbird mint (hyssop), penstemon (particularly penstemon eatonii--of which I have a few extra seeds if you'd like...), and grandpa otts morning glory. We also just planted a red hot poker--which my father tells me the hummers like and another penstemon that I seem to have lost the tag to. Happy hummingbirding and good luck.
Lindsey :)
I've found flowering vines to be the most practical hummingbird magnet because they're blanketed with red, tubular flowers. Coral honeysuckle and campsis radicans(which has the highest volume of nectar among flowers) seem to be favorites.
I have campsis radicans and standing cypress seeds that I can send to you. Just let me know.
GreenLife I am new here & would totally adore some seeds but I am not famaliar with those plants - what are they?
Cats think of hummers like there a big bee or something. Cats do not like aggressive birds like jays and the like and hummers are as fast and freaky to most non- humans. They are the only bird that can fly fowards, sideways, up and down, and generally change direction in a split-second with a wing sound that is rather frightening to most lower animals. Package that with their highly territoral behavoir and I don't think you will have any problems. If you have seen the movie Top Gun you will understand hummers. If you have the only feeder they will come-Rich
This is Big Red(The Boss)
way cool!
Hummers favor tubular flowers that insects can;t land on . That gets rid of most of the competition. Carpenter Bees cut into the tops of some of the flowers hummers like. Honeysuckle, salvia and cardinal climbers are what I grow.
This message was edited Aug 28, 2005 7:10 AM
Standing cypress is a perennial that stands anywhere from 2-5 feet and has a bunch of red tubular flowers all along the spike. It looks like this. http://www.tarleton.edu/~range/New%20Photo%20Slides/Photo%20Slides%20138+/inflorescence%20of%20standing%20cypress.jpg
You can also go to plantfiles and do a search on it to get some detailed information on it. Just type in "standing cypress" in the common name category. BTW, since it gets pretty tall, it needs to be staked.
Campsis radicans is a huge vine blanketed with giant red trumpet flowers. From reading what others have to say about campsis in plantfiles, it seems to be pretty invasive by sending up a bunch of shoots. So, it might be best if grown in a pot. I must say though, it sure looks striking when its grown out of a pot and allowed to grow as big as it wants. Here's campsis radicans:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/644/index.html
Just click on my username and send me a d-mail informing me of your contact info so that I can send you the seeds.
This message was edited Aug 27, 2005 11:05 PM
I think LarryDavid would know the best plants in your area
This page should help you, you'll need to cross reference with the Plant Files to see what is good for your zone, planting area etc. but it's a start. http://www.hummingbirdsociety.org/hottopics/attracting.asp
I know that mint is very easy to propagate, and most people who have it planted in the ground want to get rid of some of it (warning the reason for this, is that unless strictly held in check, it takes over, growing in containers helps to prevent this). Fireweed should be easy to propagate, by seed or dividing, it's native to WA, it might be native to UT, but I’m on the wrong side of the mountain to get you seeds. Morning Glory and Moonflower are pretty cheap, easy to find, and easy to grow, but they're annuals and this is the end of their season. I know there are evergreen plants they eat, but I don't know what they are. Hope this helps.
The big hummingbird magnet in my front garden is actually a small fountain. Every so often I hear the water stop and I know there is a hummer bathing in the hummingbird-sized trough the water spills over. They also like to sit on top where the water burbles out while they drink.
In my back yard, they love abutilon best. At the moment I have one pink and one white, and they do prefer to dine on the pink one. But the pink is right under the oak tree where there's a nest, so maybe it's just the convenience factor rather than the color that's attracting them.
I'm no expert on hummers, but I've seen them A LOT at our mint, red hot pokers, and I think lavatera. And on the globe thistle. I'm excited that people are mentioning campsis radicans, because I think I have some of that, too (but it's not in bloom yet??). I haven't seen the hummers around so much now since these plants aren't in bloom, but maybe they'll return soon... :)
If I know how to propagate these plants I'd be glad to send some. I think some are putting out seeds now. I'll check on that tomorrow.
--Dana