Hummingbird Garden

Obviously the more room you have for flowers and plants, the better your chances for attracting hummingbirds and birds to your garden. But just because you might only have a small yard doesn't mean you can't do anything. Here's a small brick planter we built in the easement between our sidewalk and the street. It's about 4' across (give or take). I've planted it with daylilies and annual plants (this year Salvia Lady in Red and Cleome - spider flower). These plants provide nectar for the hummingbirds, as well as spiders (did you know hummingbirds use spider webs to build their nests???) and insects (hummingbirds eat lots of insects!). Later in the summer and fall those plants that I don't deadhead will provide seeds for lots of other birds.

Last year the hummingbirds visited this area twice daily, like clockwork. Work with what you have!

Got Milkweed???

Milkweed is a vastly undervalued plant in the landscape. People just think it is a weed (perhaps because of its common name...). In fact, though, this prairie native has beautiful flowers and can be quite statuesque. Most important though, it belongs to the ONLY host family of plants for monarch caterpillars. A good number of pollinators spend time on the milkweed (which probably also scares people off, but shouldn't!).

Look at this gorgeous flower!!! Can't you find room for a few milkweed plants in your garden???

My Own Little Jungle Corner

I really love this picture, though I am not quite sure why. I think it is because it makes my yard look so lush and jungle like. In fact, that's just an optical illusion of the zoom lens plus me kneeling down to get the shot at ground level.

This is just my swiss chard (which is at the edge of my vegetable garden) silhouetted against my corner perennial bed (which includes monarda fistulosa about to bloom, prairie coreopsis, and catmint (plus a few weeds here and there).

It's just a striking color combination with all that greenery and the two goldfinches perched there checking out the plants. Didn't see two? Look closer, there's a male goldfinch in the center and a female in the top right corner.