Attracting and Caring for HummingbirdsWritten by Johann Erickson
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Good choices of food producing plants for hummingbirds includes such trees or bushes as Azaleas, Mimosa, Weigela, Cape Honeysuckle and Flowering Quince. Another semi-permanent attraction is a perennial bed with Bee Balm, Columbine, Lupine, Coral Bells and Canna. You can also plant a wide range of annuals like Fuschia, Impatiens, Petunias and Firespike, but consider growing some of your own plants from seed, as many flowers that are nursery grown, tend not to have as much nectar. Hummers will be overjoyed to discover this bonanza of blooms, and tiny bugs that constitute protein source of their diet.
To make sure you enjoy these little feathered friends for whole season, hang some hummingbird feeders around your patio or gardens. But make sure there is a bit of distance between them, to avoid squabbles, which can be quite a sight!
Because hummers are attracted to red flowers, you’ll find many of hummingbird feeders available, are also colored red. This isn’t an absolute necessity, but it can be a bright spot in your garden. And feeders come in all kinds of charming shapes from a hanging bunch of grapes, to a giant strawberry.
Commercial powdered “food” formula is available, but you can easily make your own by combining one part sugar to four parts water, and boiling it for two minutes, then cooling and storing in fridge. Never use honey, which can ferment, or red dye, which can be harmful to birds.
Only fill your hummingbird feeders to one-third or halfway mark, as it would take many birds to empty contents, and feeders will need cleaning every few days to prevent occurrence of mold. Wash in mild dish detergent, with no more than 10% bleach, and rinse several times. If you have mold inside feeder, and can’t reach it with a bottle brush, put some sand in with water, and swish that back and forth, until mold is rubbed off.
Hummingbird Trivia - The hummingbird is so small, that an insect, Praying Mantis is its natural enemy.
- They are only bird that can hover, and fly backwards as well as straight up or down
- Hummingbirds can’t walk
- The average life of a hummingbird is 3-4 years, although one specimen was caught in 1976 in Colorado, banded, and captured again in 1987
Johann Erickson is the owner of Online Discount Mart and TV Products 4 Less. Please include an active link to our site if you'd like to reprint this article.
| | The Hosta – A Shade Loving Perennial Written by Bonnie P. Carrier
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For instance, a partly shaded walk way along side your home would make a perfect candidate for this combination, plant shrubs or tall perennials along back next to house with Hostas placed in front can look quite stunning. A large shade tree in our front yard looked like a good candidate for dressing up and because of success of birdbath Hostas of course I decided to try more around tree. Using a tiller we formed a circle around base and mixed good topsoil into existing dirt, edged circle with bricks, all that was need now were plants. I spent several days’ scouring local nurseries looking for Hostas in different colors and leaf textures. Armed with six new plants of moderate size – I’m one of those impatient gardeners – I staggered them around tree, put down a thick layer of cedar mulch then for decorative accent added several groups of unusual looking rocks found in woods, a family of resin squirrels also found a home sitting around plants. It really looked great and I just knew by following year with regular watering and feeding those six plants would be larger, fuller and gorgeous. Several days later while doing my daily walk around to look for anything new, I noticed something strange around tree in front yard. Getting closer things really looked funny. It took a moment to realize there were no longer leafy plants growing there, just a bunch of green stems. This was how I learned that Hostas happen to be a favorite before dinner snack for deer. Therefore my advice is if you live in an area populated with those brown eyed beauties and your going to give Hosta growing a go make sure to spray them with a safe repellant periodically from their emergence in spring until first frost in fall. So for those shady areas think about planting Hostas, after all they are a whole lot more than scraggly looking lettuce. This is a share ware article. Give this article away for free on your site, or include it as part of any paid package as long as entire article is left intact including this notice. Copyright © 2005 bonnie carrier.
Bonnie P. Carrier is the creator of Savvy Home Decorating & Savvy Outdoor Decorating. She is the mother to two grown daughters and a very spoiled 4yr old Blue Merle Sheltie named Toby. Stop by for information and ideas for both inside and outside your home. www.savvy-home-decorating.com www.savvyoutdoordecorating.com
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