Our first home in Texas had an arbor over the patio to shade us from the hot afternoon sun. We had many hanging baskets, each watered by a drip irrigation system twice a day. Over to the side of the yard was a clothesline. Every summer we hung several hummingbird feeders under the arbor. We were entertained by the hour by as many as a dozen or more hummingbirds. Each picked its own spot - either one of the baskets or a line on the clothesline. Each defended its own territory to the hilt. What a show they put on.
We do not have a spot in our backyard to hang any feeders in our current home. However, we have lots of plants for them to feed on - flame acanthus, cigar plant and salvia greggii being their favorites by far. The hummingbird wars have already started; two have definitely set up home base in separate sections of the olive tree. I was so pleased yesterday watching one of them chase a sparrow out of the tree. Maybe they will help in saving me at least one olive this year to eat!
August 9th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
We have encouraged hummingbirds in our small garden for years. Among plants we grow specifically for them (and butterflies) are Turk’s Cap, Mexican Petunia (Ruellia sp.) and Anisacanthus. Of these, Anisacanthus is the best once it’s well-established. A major feature of this plant for us is that it thrives in a garden location where it only gets half a day of sunshine. (The Turk’s Cap does well in a shady corner where it gets practically no direct sunshine at all.) We supplement with a nectar feeder, but the main attraction is the flowers of these two species, which bloom continuously all summer and well into the autumn.