Do your hummers mock you?

I saw that coming, Leslie. LOL!! Too funny. So, are you going to get a hibiscus now? :)

Just wait till you get the Shrimp Plan cuttings, then you'll see quite the show. It is supposed to cool down towards the end of the week, so I'll ship the cuttings off to you then. It's just been so horribly hot here since last Sunday! So bad, that they had to have 1/2 day school days for the first two days of school!

Wow IndyLilly. School has already started there? They should know better huh? I bet the kids love it though. No problem. I cannot wait to get the plants but I don't want you sending them in killer heat. I appreciate that you have not forgotten me. I am going to show my sister with those plants by gosh. LOL. You are so sweet. And no I don't think I will get the hibiscus because unlike them I am not going to be lugging it in and out of the house all the time, ha!!. Let them do that work and I will just enjoy the little hummers.

Leslie

Leslie: LOL! I feel your pain! I sat still for about 20 minutes this morning with a good angle on the Black and Blue salvia which seems to be their favorite this year. Sat there and got mosquito bitten, but didn't' move for 20 minutes. Gave up - my leg was asleep. Got up and leaned down to pull a weed, and what did I hear? BZZZZ! There he was. He hovered over the salvia for a few seconds not 2 feet from me, stuck out his tongue, and flew away!!

I also spent some time hiding behind a tree by the feeder. This is the only creature that showed up. He was licking the nectar off the outside that spilled when I filled it this morning. (Ooh, I see I need to clean it, too.)
Deb

He is a cutie Deb. It seems strange everyone says they are going for the black and blue salvias and my sister said she saw one on mine one day (I missed it). So the thought that they go for red flowers is just a thought or what is going on? Not that I mind as I don't have that much red stuff. I was just curious and thought red really got em going.

Leslie

Leslie: I also see them at the red salvias and especially at the red lonicera honeysuckle. This year for some reason, they seem to spend more time at the black and blue. No idea why.
Deb

I do find that interesting Deb. Like I said before, the only flowers I have seen them show interest in were the black and blue, the light pink hibiscus and the dark purple coneflower. Now granted, I don't have a lot of red in my flower garden but I do have some and no interest at all, that I have seen anyway. But heck whichever they choose is fine with me. And absolutely no interest in the feeders so far. I even got one of those Humzingers or whatever they are called. I love the feeder but don't think they do, yet anyway.

Leslie

It's interesting to hear what these guys end up nectaring on, when the plants turn out to be the least expected ones.

Deb, I love the lizard on the feeder, that just kinda says it all!!

I have been a little busy lately (as usual, lol) and hadn't gotten around to refilling one of my feeders. Now mind you, there is another feeder that still had food in it as well as various flowers for them to visit. Well, the past couple days while I am eating breakfast outside I have had a hummer or two come right up to me, just hovering in front of my face about 3 feet or so away. It was as if to say, 'Where's the food woman?"....lol. I got it filled now so hopefully they are happy again. They have also been feeding on my incense passion vine and cannas.

:) Kim

I saw one on zinnia yesterday. I just planted a black & blue salvia.. haven't seen them on it yet. They LOVE my cypress vine which is beginning to be full of bloom. Have to refill my feeders every day now with 100 degree temps. sigh........we need rain desperately. Love that little lizard. He is a good critter for eating bugs.
Elaine

My hummers certainly mock me!! I have a little female who always wants to "see" what I am doing when I am puttering outside. She comes about three feet awya and just looks but you bet that if I had a camera she would not come so close. My sister was here visiting from New Mexico and she never gets to see Ruby Throats. Well dont you know that none of my babies came around for her to takes his picture!! Little brats...............
But I luv em!!

Hi Everyone. Just wanted to share with you that my firespike plants are in bloom and the hummers found them :-)

Maria: If I were a hummer, I'd SO be all over that plant! :)

Maria is that anything like a firebush? I have a firebush that looks similar in flower, not so much the leaves. I was just wondering if they are the same or totally different species. Mine looks like something the hummers would love just like yours but have not seen them on it yet.

Leslie

Thanks Debin! The hummers were my main reason for getting the plants. And the plants have done so well. I bought three from http://www.eldonaccess.com/product.sc?productId=14 last September. After I planted them, the unthinkable happened: another potted plant fell right on top of one of the Firespike Plants, leveling it to the ground. So I collected the broken pieces, stuck them in some Perlite (indoors) and kissed the broken plant good bye, leaving the plant and pieces in the care of my DH while going off to Germany for one month. Well, now I have seven plants (including the leveled one), all alive and well, growing in a corner under a tree where no other plant ever grew and lived to talk about it.

Leslie – I see where the individual flowers appear similar. After some research (not being an expert), I noted that the flowers of my Firespike Plant seem to grow in an “intersection like” fashion, or like straight spikes with crossing sections. The flowers of Firebush appear more clustered and the plants develop berries or fruit. I have noted no fruit on my Firespike Plant. Also, the scientific names are different: For Firebush it is Hamelia Patens and for Firespike Plant Odontonema Strictum.

Anyway, your Firebush or as another common name Hummingbird Bush would imply, should also attract hummers. Good Luck!

Maria

Becky,
You were so not kidding about the Shrimp Plant throwing their seeds!! I've have the plant in my computer room since Sunday, and I've been hearing this sound like something bouncing against the walls or something, and for a while I was really beginning to wonder if I have structural damage to my house because of the rock quarry blasting, particles of stuff could have been falling in between the walls. Ok, I'm slow, and sometimes it takes me a while to figure things out. Yesterday I finally discovered what the heck these sounds were -- it's the Shrimp Plant throwing its seeds EVERYWHERE!!! And people keep these as house plants???
I now have an abundance of seeds if anyone wants some.

LOL! Oh yes, that plant can SHOOT those seeds out!

Save them for the Group Seed Swap!!! :-) :-)
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/784913/

Well Becky, I'm just gonna have to have a talk with those little birdies. I told them to go straight to your house ! Maybe you have soooo much red you are scarring them away ?

LOL! Now THAT is quite possible! My yard looks like the "red light" district right now with everything blooming! Can ya talk to the butterflies, too? LOL

I actually have a story about the "red light" district that my boyfriend told me after he got back from Amsterdam. Sorry. Becky, I would love to see pictures of everything blooming for you now, I'm kinda having withdrawls here because everything is slowly dying. :(

Maybe you'll get lucky with the hummers shortly, otherwise, they definately have a problem!! What I don't understand is why I have a neighbor 3 doors down from me that had at least 10 hummers this past summer, and I only had two. See, they are just overly picky or something.

I have a feeling it has nothing to do with what flowers you have or how many. That picture was taken awhile back, but right now the only thing blooming in my yard are purple petuninas and alysumm, neither of which the hummers like, but I still have hummers coming to my feeder. Maybe some trees attract them for building their nests in ? I have a eucalyptus & mesquite tree so maybe that's it ?

My hummer(s) have left a few weeks ago and I hope to see them again next April.

Maria - I just don't understand why the hummers even pack up and leave our area. It never gets THAT cold here. My Cape Honeysuckle tree and Powder Puff bush bloom right through the winter. Both are nectar plants for hummers. Go figure???

Here's a photo of one corner of my backyard. Plenty of red and orange blooms!

And here is my Red Shrimp in the same area looking in the opposite direction. Both pictures were taken today! It's in the low 80's here.

And here is my transplanted Purple Porterweed bush. It's as high as my 6' fence! It's loaded with purple flowers and I see the skippers on it all day long! This is also in the same area as the other photos. A hummer could happily live out their life in my backyard! :-) So where are they???? LOL!

And here is my cute Powder Puff bush that the bees fall asleep in during the winter months. :-) Lots and lots of red, purple, and orange nectar plants!

Becky, your plants are gorgeous and the hummers should love them! Here it can get cold and does freeze occasionally although my tropical hibiscus has survived for three years now. Knock on wood.

Becky: You do have a great collection for your hummers! Ours have been gone for a few weeks now and I miss them! :(

Thanks! Maybe they are heading my way! I'm thinking positive vibes here! ~:~;~;~;~:~:~: