Hummingbird visitor and questions

I first noticed the hummingbird(s?) at my Jacob Cline bee balm a few weeks ago. Now they've discovered the butterfly bush.
The hummer noticed me watching him at the buddelia and flew away to a nearby hedge. I stayed still. He then apparently figured it was safe to return, so he did. He also checked out a (rather paltry) hanging basket of fushcia and verbena just a few feet away from me.
It's not the greatest photo, but the hummers move so fast!
I don't use hummingbird feeders because I don't want to attract wasps, so it's great to see that the plants are enough to attract the hummers.

My questions:
I am curious how many of you rely on plants alone, as opposed to feeders?
Also, what plants work the best at attracting hummers, in your experience?
Thanks!

I always put out at least one feeder. They always go to the plants first but will still visit the feeder too. If I have lots of them like in fall I will put out at least 6 feeders spread out all over the yard because they fight so bad over them

Wow, I can't imagine needing 6 feeders! Must be nice. :-)
By the way, I also have this visitor at the buddelia. I think it's a hummingbird moth. The wings beat so fast you can't even see them.

Hi juju,

This year I am mostly relying on plants alone. I had one feeder out and the hummers pretty much ignored it in favor of the plants.

I have bee balm, standing cypress, gaillardia, duranta, zinnias, cosmos, hibiscus, salvia, mimosa, trumpet vine, butterfly bush, in addition to some other plants I can't remember right now.

Your hummingbird moth above is a day-flying sphinx moth called the nessus sphinx. I had one visiting my bee balm last week.

http://www.odolep.com/Moths/SPHINGIDAE/amphion_floridensis.htm

Hill,
Thank you for the ID on the nessus sphinx!

:-D

You are quite welcome! The nessus sphinx was a new one for me--first time I ever saw one. The bee balm has really been a great draw for the butterflies, moths and hummers this year. I couldn't recommend it any more highly as a garden plant.

I have 2 feeders out and change the sugar water solution every other day. I have alot of flowers to attract them and they mostly visit the flowers over the feeders, but the feeders are there to add to the feeding if they desire.

I planted 2 different colors of Bee Balm, 29 different Salvias, 12 different kinds of Phlox, 3 different kinds of Crocosmia, including lots of 'Lucifer' Crocosmia, 12 different colored Columbines, Liatris, 12 different kinds of Butterfly Bush, 16 different kinds of Agastache, dozens and dozens of Verbena Bonariensis, Ruellia, Gartenmeister Fuchsia, 7 different Penstemons, 2 different Stachys, 10 different Coral Bells, 3 different Red Hot Pokers, Pentas, Lantana, Spiegelia, Silene, Cape Fuchsia, Larkspurs, Delphiniums, Caryopteris, also had some kind of "Fircracker Plant", but the wild rabbits chewed them down to the ground.

Have other plants in garden for Buttlerflies, and the Hummers might visit those too.

Already thinking and planning on more different types of plants for the Hummers for next year.

Marilyn


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I just use plants because I don't want to keep refilling feeders.

I've seen swarms of hummingbirds around my mom's feeders and she has to fill them everyday. If Mom is late or gone, the hummers go into attack and tweet mode and demanding that someone fill those feeders. I know that I did not want to recreate that situation at my house, so I've kept to plants and I have a few hummers everyday.

I rely on plants only as well. The butterfuly bush attracts the hummers, but one of their favorites is my honeysuckle vine. It blooms early and the re-blooms later in the summer and I get hummingbirds on it everyday while it's in flower.

Marilyn - That is a great list, thank you. It's given me some new ideas to investigate, including 'Lucifer' Crocosmia. (One of my books says it's an all-around great plant for my area and hummingbirds like it, so I don't know why I hadn't noticed it before.)

JoePyeWeed - My goodness -- I'd be stressed out if I felt like the hummers were relying on me like that! That's one more reason for me to stick with plants.

Maureen - Thanks for the mention of honeysuckle vine. Any suggestions on which variety? Everyone says Trumpet Vine is too invasive. I've removed some Japanese Honeysuckle because it's considered invasive here as well. I'd like to plant something that will behave. :-)

Thanks.

Hi Jujucaps,
The honeysuckle I have is called "Gold Flame" and it's not at all invasive here (NH - Zone 5). In fact, I wish it would spawn an offspring or two so I could have more plants! Marilyn is right about 'Lucifer' Crocosmia. I was able to grow it for two years, but unfortunately last winter was unusually cold with very little snow cover and it didn't come back this year. I plan on getting more next spring though, once you grow it you'll be hooked...

I have just gotten interested in attracting hummers and butterflies.
At the present I have nothing growing to interest them. I live in northwest Florida, just below Alabama. My wife is a florist and we have been concentrating on greenery. I would like flowers to spruce up our front.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what would be the best to grow in sandy soil? I have choices as to shady or sunny or a combination.

Shannond- Im in Florida too just outside of Clearwater. Ive done well with natives...you can check them out at www,fnps.org
Also Pentas and Lantana are great...they'll suffer from the cold but I just whack em back and they're good to go. Make sure you get some Milkweed for the Monarchs and a Cassia for the Sulphers!
Have fun!!

I have found that hummers love my canna. The canna has been in the ground for years I don't dig them up in the fall and they come back year after year. I have two feeders and figure with all the flowers this time of year if they use the feeders fine if they don't it's there for the taking. My DH told me the other day he saw a really neat hummer at a hanging basket on the porch. It was cute hearing him tell about the hummer's markings, he was really into it.

i never use feeders. Too much work! Mine love porterweed, the flowers that form on coleus if you let it go, and beebalm and crocosmia.

Hi:

I find bee balm draws plenty of hummers here. I found it hard to keep up with the feeder AND the garden. This was one of my visitors tonight.

Lisa

The bee balm also draws lots of sphinx moths.

This little guy was just taking a break.

It took me forever to spot the hummer in that last pic. Cute! :-)

BTW, thank you Maureen for mentioning Gold Flame. It's now on my "to plant" list.

Here they like to feed in the top of Crepe Myrtles, and Rose of Sharons. I do have feeders out, and they go to both.

They love my red salvia and they go crazy over my firecracker cuphea. I have 3 of them and they're some of the best plants in my garden. I also have 3 feeders and don't find them too much work at all. It's no different than making a batch of kool-aid. We hang them right on our back deck so the hummers quickly get used to our presents and I haven't had a bee or wasp show any interest in them. They can't really get to the nectar. Plus the bees and wasps are far too interested in my garden to pay any attention to the hummer feeders. So I use a combo. The butterflies love my zinnias, pentas (red) and lantana. It's fun to sit on the deck and watch my "moving" garden!

Just don't let one spring a leak!!!

Yikes! I think I've now decided: I'm sticking to plants! :-)

Whoa, Shelia...that looks a little scary - especially for me since I'm allergic to them in a bad way. Funny though, I deadhead and am in the face of bumblebees all the time and they never bother me. They warn me if I'm getting too close...their buzz changes a little. But other than that, they're great and leave me bee. (g) That's exactly the kind of feeder we have too - 3 of them. Have had them hanging on the deck for years. I'll definitely watch for leaks!! Gosh, today was so beautiful...I was outside deadheading, watering, weeding, etc for 4 hours...everything I've been putting off because of the heat. I bet I won't be able to MOVE tomorrow. The swallowtails and frittalaries were loving it! We have one yellow and one black that are as big as small bats - it's amazing. The others are all standard size.

Lwkbriggs,

I see you have 2 different colors of Bee Balm, how big do they get in your garden? What are your varieties?

Marilyn

Just heard the hummer expert from Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept., Mark Klym, speak last Thursday and he said feeders are ok as long as you have nectar plants as well. Feeders are supplementary to plants and if you go out of town, you can count on the plants to take care of the hummers. He also said that now they are all fattening up to get ready to migrate, and it's a good time for a feeder and it's ok to up the sugar content a bit to give them a bit of a head start on all that body fat they need to get them all the way to Mexico (or even south Texas where many of us have a few of them all winter). He said to be sure when it's hot to rinse out the feeders with water every 3-4 days and put in fresh sugar water. Their protein source is insects - of which we all have plenty! They are already starting to migrate our way, and even though I hadn't seen any on our nectar plants, I put up a feeder the next morning and within an hour I saw a female - the first since April when the last ones headed north. Maybe he sent that one to my house to prove a point...
Nancy

Hi Marilyn,

I have Raspberry Wine, Cambridge Scarlett, Jacob Cline, and Marshall's Delight. The Raspberry Wine and Jacob Cline grow to about 6 feet. The others about 4. The two in the photos were Raspberry Wine and Marshall's Delight. The hummers seem to prefer the darker reds in my garden. They are there almost every daylight hour. This morning in the rain at about 6 am, I was staking some leaning Delphiniums, and one of my regulars came over to see what was happening at this hour. She stayed right next to me the whole time I was working. I have never had this happen before, but it was wonderful....

Lisa