I grew up on a large farm in southern Illinois. It was basically a hog farm, but we planted what was tillable. We picked morel mushrooms, blackberries, and strawberries from the woods and pastures. I was always attracted to pretty things, even as a child. I would rather chase butterflies and hummingbirds than go to the barnyard and slop the hogs.
I used to hike in the woods for hours on end; collecting rocks, wildflowers, turtles, and whatever else was collectible. One of my favorite memories was watching a hummingbird on its nest on a branch of a dogwood tree. The nest was beautifully crafted – made by twigs, moss, and lichens. It was a stroke of luck that I looked up as the hummingbird landed on the nest.
While doing some research for this article, I came across some fascinating facts about hummingbirds. They can fly backwards and upside down. They have been clocked flying 61 miles an hour. Their wings beat at 50 to 80 times per second. Rufour hummingbirds migrate 3,900 miles twice a year from Mexico to Alaska. It’s not unusual for a hummingbird to return to the same backyard feeder year after year.
It’s fun to “feed” hummingbirds, but it is important to remember that they are pollinators, so part of their diet needs to come naturally – from flowers. Honeybees, which are the most prolific pollinators, are rapidly in decline due to the use of insecticides. Dawn soap and water sprayed forcefully from a trigger sprayer controls many types of insects without using harmful insecticides.
A garden full of colorful flowers is your best bet for bringing hummingbirds in. Try to plant annuals or perennials with a long blooming season. Redbud trees, weigela bushes, monarda, zinnias, columbine, bleeding hearts, and fuchsia set the table for the early season. Bee balm, salvias, penstemon, petunias, and hollyhocks follow later.
A few suggestions about hummingbird feeders follow:
• Change the nectar every four to five days.
• Clean the container with mild dish detergent every time you fill the feeder.
• Hang the feeder at least four feet high to deter cats.
• Have two or three feeders located out of sight of each other to prevent the hummingbirds from fighting. Some are very territorial.
Butterflies tend to enjoy the same flowering plants that hummingbirds do. In addition, they particularly enjoy feasting on butterfly bushes, milkweed, butterfly weed, coneflowers – purple and white, zinnias, lantanas, salvia, sage, and goldenrod. Iron weed and Joe-Pye weed are wildflowers that they love. There is also a form of ageratum that grows wild in N.C., and produces a good show of blue-purple flowers in the fall.
As for providing water for the butterflies, they enjoy water from a mud puddle or a wet rock. A bird bath full of stones or pebbles provides a lovely spa for butterflies. The stones must protrude above the water.
Happy gardening. I hope your garden Is full of hummingbirds, butterflies, and rainbows all summer!
