I've been excited this summer because a hummingbird has been visiting the large butterfly bush outside the front window of our house.
Yesterday, while editing some reader-submitted photos to run in various sections of the paper, I came upon some really great hummingbird photos from Teresa Strickler of Dover Township. In fact, these are so good that they're going to be the basis for a future Weekly Record centerpiece, but for now, I just wanted to share them with you.
I can't wait to read what my writer, Barb, comes up with to go with these and Teresa's other photos. I asked Barb to talk to some gardeners about what plants attract hummingbirds - for instance, I had no idea my butterfly bush would. And I know you can get those red sugar water feeders at the store, but are there other things you can put out to attract them?
If you know, let me know. I'd love to get some more at our place!
Hi!
I also am a hummingbird fan, and have quite a few different ones that visit my feeders/garden. They LOVE red sage flowers. I plant them in a brick planter under my feeders and they alternate between the feeders and the flowers. They also like hot pink zinnias, phlox, corabells, and delphiniums. They build nests on odd things- when not built in trees... like christmas light strands and eaves of houses. They use spider webs, mosses and bark to make their nests. The webs go all around the nest to hold all of the delicate pieces together. I always make my own feeder food: which is one cup of white sugar to 2 cups of boiling water. Allow to cool before refilling feeders. I never add red- they don't like the store bought red stuff as much as homemade! I refill every five days-to keep it from getting too fermented. They will also eat from a cut open watermelon if you put it out in plain sight near their feeder. Fun thing to try: wear a red shirt and hold a floral stem tube(filled with sugar water) wrapped in red pipe cleaners. Sit very still near your feeders and they may feed from the tube you hold. You can also hold the feeder with your palms and allow your fingers to extend outward and they usually perch on your fingers as long as you don't "spook" them. Good Luck!