Gardening for Hummingbirds

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird on Pineapple sage

If you haven't gardened for Hummingbirds yet this year it may not be to late to help the little birds out. Now is when the little guys start to migrate. Hang out some feeders and make plans to garden for them next year. Or you may attract a Rufous Hummingbird to stay the winter in your yard like I did last year! 

Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Mix I part white sugar to 4 parts water mix thoroughly, bring to a boil, and cool. Store extra mixture in refrigerator. You don’t need to tint the mixture red but having red on the feeder will help them locate the nectar. Keep it clean, sugar water molds quickly in hot weather. Put it in the open where it will be seen easily. More than one feeder may cut down on hummingbird fights. Hummer’s returning year after year will look for feeders and flowers in the places they were they were the previous year.

Rufous Hummingbird in February 2014

Unlike the Rufous and other hummingbirds of the western mountains, where freezing nights are common even in summer, Ruby-throats aren't well adapted to cold temperatures; they have a tough time below the mid-20s (F), and don't enter torpor (a state of physical or mental inactivity; lethargy) as regularly as their western cousins to conserve energy. To avoid the cold, and the scarcity of food when flowers stop blooming and insects stop flying, they go south. Some adult males start migrating south as early as mid-July, but the peak of southward migration for this species is late August and early September. By mid-September, essentially all of the Ruby-throated at feeders are migrating through from farther north, and not the same individuals seen in the summer. This is difficult to see, since they all look alike, but has been proven by banding studies. The number of birds migrating south may be twice that of the northward trip, since it includes all immature birds that hatched during the summer, as well as surviving adults.

Hummingbird gardening involves the planting of hummingbird attracting plants. It is just that simple! Hummingbirds consume 1-1/2 to 3 times their own weight in food per day. Their diet includes flower nectar, spiders, and small insects. Because hummingbirds rely on insects as a  source of protein, chemical insecticides should not be used in the hummingbird garden. Not only will insecticides kill insects which are essential to a hummer's diet, but they could sicken or kill the hummingbird that eats insects or flower nectar that is tainted with insecticides

Top Long-blooming flowers for Hummingbirds:

• Columbine
• Phlox
• Bee Balm
• Fuchsia
• Salvia
• Pineapple Sage
• Verbena
• Cardinal; Flower
• Cigar Flower
• Lungwort

Hummingbird Favorites:

Vines 

• Hyacinth Bean vine
• Climbing Nasturtium
• Cypress vine
• Trumpet vine
• Trumpet Honeysuckle

Flowers

• Salvia
• Verbena
• Phlox
• Fuchsia
• Cuphea

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird on Black & Blue Salvia

Toad Abodes for Your Yard

Why would you want to have more toads in your yard? We are in the middle of summer and in the height of bug season! My yard has seen almost 5" of rain this week and I expect to see a rise in mosquitoes in a couple of weeks. I've already battled or tolerated Japanese beetles, leaf hoppers and spider mites this summer season. I don't use chemicals in the yard because of my wildlife habitat. My backyard birds, fish, and dragonflies are a big help. But do you know how helpful toads can be in the fight against unwanted insects? 

After reading this you may want to consider encouraging a toad or two to take up residence in your backyard or garden. One toad can eat up to 10,000 insect pests over the course of the summer. Toads like damp, shady areas and need shelter. If you want to attract a toad, you should provide a good home, or “toad abode” for it. Toads need water, too, so you should leave a tray of water near their abode. Line the toad’s home with leaf mold or leaf litter.  Don’t bring toads from elsewhere and put them in your yard (or let loose pet toads). You can find toad abodes at garden centers or online.

You can make your own toad abode using a broken flowerpot or half-bury a large flowerpot on its side in a shady spot. Or arrange flat rocks with a toad-size space underneath. Situate your toad abode in the shade--say, under a bush--and in the dampest spot in your yard, near a gutter downspout, air conditioner drip or in a low spot that collects rainwater.

Gardening for Birds & Other Wildlife

I was surprised and happy to see an Indigo Bunting in my yard for the first time since fall migration in 2009. One reason I was so excited was because when we moved from the Atlanta, GA area I left behind a wonderful habitat for wildlife for a yard with no habitat. I traded a yard with 30+ trees and multitude of shrubs and flowers to a yard with 2 pine trees and a scrubby small oak tree.



I was used to seeing Northern Cardinals, Robins, Brown Thrashers, Eastern Towhee’s, Carolina Wrens & Chickadee’s, Eastern Bluebirds and Redheaded woodpeckers nest in my yard. I wasn’t sure how to start when the Master Gardener coordinator from Gwinnett County, GA emailed me about the NWF Backyard Habitat program. So I went to the NWF website and started implementing their 4 steps for creating a wildlife friendly garden/backyard. When I look at my yard 9 years later it is hard to believe it is the same yard.



I attribute seeing more variety of birds in my yard to the maturing of my garden. My work over the years seems to be paying off. So I thought I’d blog about gardening for wildlife again and encourage you to give it a try if you haven’t tried it yet. I've added and rework my planting areas over the years to incorporate Food, water sources, cover from predators and nesting areas. My bluebird box was immediately occupied in Feb. 2005 when first installed and has been used every year since. Carolina Chickadees and Carolina wrens have also nested in the yard. Ruby throated Humming birds, Cardinals, Brown Thrashers, Brown headed nuthatches, Red headed woodpeckers, Downy woodpeckers, Tufted Titmouse visit my feeders and bring their babies to feed and bathe in our garden.



It's not hard to get started at all. One of the easiest things to do is just add a bird bath. This can be especially important in dry months or droughts. Here are some ideas for getting started in your own yard.





FOOD: I relied heavily on bird feeders early on and still use them to feed birds when natural food in not available and as a supplement. But I have added Native forbs*, plants, shrubs and trees provide the foliage, nectar, pollen, berries, seeds and nuts many wildlife species require to survive.Blueberries are a favorite food for the Mocking birds who visit our yard.






WATER: All wildlife needs a clean source of water for drinking and bathing and reproduction. Since I don’t have a natural lake, river, pond, ocean, stream or wetland in my backyard I use man made water sources. The easiest way of course is to use a bird bath. I have several in my yard set a different heights including one at ground level. One is a small fountain with recirculating water that small birds love. The ground level is a favorite with some of my shyer and larger visitors. We even see occasional opossums visit our 250 gallon pond with waterfall. One pool of the waterfall is shallow with flat rocks and birds will bathe and drink from it as well. The sound of that pond can attract the wildlife as well. I have recently created a small rain garden I’m hoping to create a puddling area for butterflies.





COVER: I didn't have a lot of cover when we first moved to this house. I had to wait for trees and shrubs to grow up. After 9 years they are producing a fair amount of cover and shade that was missing from my landscape. Wildlife need places to feel safe from people, predators, and inclement weather. Behind my back fence is a small wooded buffer area that provides some cover now and early on. Thickets and brush piles offer great cover with bushy leaves and thorns. I started and keep a brush pile that can be used by birds and other wildlife. Our pond is home to several frogs and we have a toad abode as well. The rock of the waterfall is home to several skinks and anoles.





PLACE TO RAISE YOUNG: Wildlife need places to reproduce, bear and raise their young, and see their young survive to adulthood, all safe from predators, bad weather and human interference. Forming a wildlife habitat creates a place for the complete life-cycle of a species to occur, from tadpole to frog, from caterpillar to butterfly. Many of the cover features in your habitat can also serve as a place for raising young. Consider a wildflower patch for butterflies to lay eggs, constructed birdhouses for nesting birds, ponds for amphibians and fish are places for raising young.





I'm also adding a host plant garden for butterflies to complement what I've been doing for the birds and other wildlife that visit our yard. I'll talk more about that in a later blog.



May is Garden for Wildlife Month and it is a great time to make your yard friendlier to wildlife. It doesn't matter if you’re a first time gardener with only a small space on your patio for containers or if you are an expert gardener with acres to plant. If you take the challenge and turn your yard, garden or outdoor spaces into a habitat for wildlife consider becoming a certified wildlife Habitat with National Wildlife Federation.

*Forb: A broad-leaved herb other than a grass, especially one growing in a field, prairie, or meadow