hummingbirds?

[snow1]

Need some direction on this,put a couple feeders out last summer,had a couple hummers show but want a better setup to attract more hummers,do you guyz plant certain flowers to attract them?before I put feeders out I  have a 15' high yard light pole thats covered with trumpeter vines,they flower late summer and the hummers love the nectar but want summer hummers so any input fire away,as far as my hummer feeders go someone here suggested straight sugar water keep away from dye colored store bought nectar,finally when should we put them out?.

[Dotch]

snow-I take no credit for what the wife puts on the pots and planters but this is usually what goes on at our place: Petunias in pots w/salvia. Petunias provide earlier season blooms for our hummers. She usually has several kinds of salvia including coral nymph, blue, red.  Planters get impatiens & salvia. Salvia seeds are favorites of goldfinches once the plants are dead. Large pots in front of the garage are usually coleus that flower later season. Also very attractive to bumblebees. My contributions usually include morning glories, cannas and four o'clocks that tend to be later season flowering. Four o'clocks and petunias are favorites of sphinx moths as well. Deadeye is the Canna King though. Those red leaved ones he raises are monsters.  Considering starting some four o'clocks inside soon in small pots then transplanting into larger containers to see if we can get some flowering earlier. They are actually perennials but planted in the garden, they can't handle frost & frozen soils.

Usually put the hummingbird feeders out towards the end of April to the first week or so in May here. Depends on what the weather looks like. The orioles and hummers are typically pretty close together coming thru our backyard. Been watching for the white-throated, white-crowned and Harris's sparrows to show up. A lot of times it's been 2 - 3 weeks from when I 1st notice them until the orioles and hummers appear. May have seen some immature Harris's sparrows yesterday. Just sugar water in a 4 parts water to one part sugar is all we use w/o coloring in oriole or hummingbird nectar feeders. Cheap. Not that I'm convinced coloring will hurt the birds, it's just one more thing to mess with.   

 

[LPS]

We just do the 4 parts water and 1 part sugar too.  No dye.  I just use hot water out of the tap and stir it good till the sugar is dissolved.  Used to heat it on the stove but quit doing that years ago and still seems to work fine.   

[roony]

Seems like the hummers show up about the same time as the orioles, the first week of May. The warden has lots of flowers in the same area. Both the orioles and the hummingbirds seem to like rhe apple blossoms too.

[snow1]

Thanx guyz,I'll take your advice and run with it,I do have morning and moon glory vines that keep comming up along my wood privacy fence every spring and apple tree's as well,buddies caught me planting flowers one spring day after my ole lady passed on,they didn't by my excuse I was digging in a electrical line to the pole barn....so far this subject always comes up still.

[LPS]

Ole lady meaning your mother right?  Or an Aunt?

[mike89]

Ole lady meaning your mother right?  Or an Aunt?

his late wife

[Gunner55]

Know it'll probably be close to a month yet but 1 of our feeders went out yday.

[snow1]

Ole lady meaning your mother right?  Or an Aunt?

LOL LPS, mom passed,no aunt's either.

[LPS]

A buddy of mine always called his woman his Ol lady and I would tease him and say, "you mean your mother". LOL

[glenn57]

My dad found out I was calling him the old man. Boy oh boy did I catch holy hell. Ended right then and there.

[roony]

I'll stick with warden.