Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Another First
First hummingbird of the year! Yesterday morning, it was investigating the 'Easy Wave Red' Petunias I planted next to the Cuphea purpurea. The Cuphea isn't blooming much yet, so it moved on to a pineapple sage, which is. Then it flew off in the direction of the hummingbird feeder. The feeder is too far away from the house for me to see clearly without binoculars, and by the time I found those, the bird had either moved on or never stopped there in the first place. Now I can spend the rest of the summer trying to get good pictures.
2 Comments:
After seeing two hummingbirds, one several times, I haven't seen any now for over a week. I don't know if they kept moving north and if the locals are yet to arrive or what. Last year we consistently had about 6-8 hummingbirds doing battle daily around and about the yard.
I did move the hummingbird feeder off the deck (it attracted a steady stream of ants as well as squirrels which always made a sticky mess)out onto the yard with the other feeders. I wonder if it being so close to the other birds keeps the hummingbirds from using it?
Also, do you know any tricks to dealing with ants in planters?
After the first sighting, I didn't see another hummingbird until this morning. I assume the ones who breed here are here now, but come to think of it, I mostly see them around later in the summer. I've only ever seen one at a time here - hoping with the feeder I'll see more this year. My feeder is pretty far from the sunflower seed feeder, so don't know how they react to other birds close by.
Ants in planters? Well, that's about the only place I haven't had them. ;-) I've stopped using pesticides, but I used to get good results with something called Terro. I think it's boric acid mixed with sugar and is relatively low in toxicity to other creatures. I used it outside even though it was meant for indoor use. Just looked at their web site, and it seems they've updated their product line since I used it last. I guess the closest thing would be the Terro Liquid Ant Baits.
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