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Words: 493 Copyright: 2005 Marilyn Pokorney

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Planting a garden full of red flowers is best way to attract these beautiful jeweled birds.

Plant bee balm, butterfly weed, columbine, cardinal Flower, coral bells, cosmos, dahlias, four-o'-clock's, fuchsias, morning glory, petunias, zinnias, trumpet vine, or honeysuckle. A web search will reveal many more.

Be a hummingbird magnet by having as much red in your backyard as possible. Besides flowers use gazing balls, backyard furniture, ribbons, and other yard decorations. Create both sun and shade areas in your hummingbird garden. Offer an abundance of nesting materials to encourage nesting females. Hummingbirds prefer downy like materials, spider webs, ferns, moss and lichens for their nests. Make certain that there is always fresh water available for drinking as well as for bathing. Set up misters. Hummingbirds love to take "leaf baths," rubbing against wet leaves or just sitting on a branch having mist fall upon them.

Avoid pesticides. These chemicals kill insects that hummingbirds eat for protein and can also sicken or kill birds.

What are you doing to help conserve this precious commodity?

Often we don't appreciate something until it's gone! That can really be true with water. Taken for granted when it is plentiful, its importance is truly appreciated in garden once it becomes scarce. If you find yourself in a drought, there are some things you can do to help conserve water and make best use of what you have available.

If you have not already mulched your plants, do it! Mulch will help limit amount of water that evaporates from soil. While organic mulches such as grass clippings or wood chips are preferable since they add organic matter to soil, plastic mulches are useful in limiting evaporation from soil. They can be laid between rows in vegetable garden and will help limit moisture loss; however, they also will limit infiltration.