Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Early spring nectar plants/trees for Hummingbirds?, 1 by DreamOfSpring

DreamOfSpring wrote:
I do use the package mix most of the time, not because I think it's better but because it's easier. I use sugar and water when I run out of the mix; I'm using sugar now, in fact. The mix I use calls for 2 cups of water; I use 1 cup. With the sugar, I use 1:2 ratio. I kid you not, that "rich" mixture makes a lot of difference with my hummers. With the regular strength brew, I had to pour most of it out; they drink that xtra strenght stuff dry. If you don't boil it, you probably can't get it too strong; hot tap water will only hold so much sugar in suspension.

Now about those plants, I didn't mention plants a lot because of the difference in our zones. Only a few varieties of Lilac have even a prayer of blooming here; Lilac needs a good chill to set blooms. (I LOVE lilac and peonies which also aren't very happy here) Our lowest temp is about 28F, and we only reach that maybe 2-3 nights all winter.Not familiar with buckeye; suspect that it does not live here either. On the other hand, there is something blooming here year round. Flowering Quince and Camelias bloom through winter and verbena starts blooming in Jan or Feb, etc. My hummers visit all kinds of plants, not just those on hb list. I have read that roses don't have enough nectar for hummer, but I have watched my hummers make the rounds of the roses many, many times. There is a "wild" trumpet vine in the forest that adjoins my property. It grows some 40' or more up into the trees; I see the hummers visiting it, too. However, the trumpet vine doesn't bloom until much later in summer. The red honeysuckle which they love is blooming when they arrive.

I realize that you asked about early hb plants, but you also stated that you wanted to find a way to get them to STAY not just pass through. If the pass through, then they found your yard, right? In my yard, the extra strength brew seemed to make the difference between hummers that visit my yard periodically while making neighborhood rounds and hummers that LIVE in my yard. I think the combination of a variety of flowers blooming constantly with extra sweet brew in the feeder is what works for me. Once the hummers set up camp in your yard one year, they tend to return with bags packed every year.

Last year, due to knee surgery, I did not put my feeder out. My hummer actually found me in the yard and hovered around my face - like 10" from my face. I had to laugh. I really think he was saying, "hey, I'm back. Where's the grub?" So, I hobbled inside and got the feeder for him. Sometimes when I forget to fill/change the feeder they fly up to the window and hover around. Birds are very smart. I think they see me filling it. They know.

You said "like the sapsucker...the hb follow the lilac north". That gets to what I was saying about the latest theory of why the HBs actually migrate north. From what I read, the latest theory - and I believe this came from the Cornel Bird Lab magazine - is that the hb are actually following the SAPSUCKER. As the article stated, when the hbs leave south america, there are still flowers in south america; however, there are few flowers in many parts of n america when they 1st arrive. To live they need insects for protein as well as nectar for energy. In trying to figure out why they leave s america, bird experts noticed that the hbs arrive here at the same time as the sapsucker. So one theory is that they are following the sapsucker because the woodpecker provides a steady source of insects (that are attracted to the oozing sap) and the hummers can subsist on the oozing sap in leau of nectar until the flowers start blooming.

I don't know how people take those great hummer pics. Here is my 1st attempt and as bad as it is, I'm happy to have snagged it today.