Becoming Obsessed

[Andy Thatcher]

I used to be a normal birder. OK maybe a little more extreme than normal as I have traveled a fair amount over the years.

Anyway through marriage I found myself transplanted 4 years or so ago from the UK to Florida.

At first we lived in a rental house and with a few plant pots soon had a regular hummingbird visitor that steadfastly refused to go anywhere near a feeder but that was fine we had our first hummer and all was good.

After 18 months we bought a property that has a couple of acres. One of the selling factors was that on our first visit I was standing in the garden and a hummingbird came hurtling past me, sold !

The breeding Red Shouldered Hawks and Green Herons helped as well.

So we moved in and within 24 hours had hummingbirds regularly visiting the feeders and this time ignoring the plants. Again fine, we had hummingbirds.

The slippery slope started when the thought occurred to me one trip in January to Merritt Island watching a winter Ruby Throat....wouldn't it be nice to have hummers all year at home.

That was last January. Over the intervening months I have slowly turned from someone that had a passing knowledge of gardening, well I knew what end of the lawn mower goes forward, to seed germinating, cutting rooting maniac.

Everything is still in the initial stages but I have gone from a couple of firebush's and some blue salvia to.....
Golden Shrimp Plant
Red Shrimp Plant
Buddleia (or however you spell it) in red, white and lavender.
Beebalm
Butterfly Weed
Red Salvia
Trumpet Vine
Coral Vine
Honeysuckle
Crape Myrtle

I have some 20 pots of rooted cuttings of all of the above and currently some Bottlebrush in the mister waiting for the cuttings to gain some roots.

It seems odd to me still that I even know what a mister is let alone taking the time to get one operational !

I have a strange feeling this is just the start so watch out. Hummingbirds can lead to very strange behaviour !

[traceyi]

Andy, Late welcome to Florida!! I love your post. Hope I can be as advanced as you've become on the flower gardening by early spring next year.

I have a very small yard, and I'm thinking of giving up some of my vegetable garden space for the little guys. I have been veggie gardening for years, but it seems to have taken a back seat over the last month.

Ditto on being obsessed. I'm either watching for or reading up on the hummers so I can't seem to get dinner to the table on time anymore and I'm about to let my husband run out of clean socks and underwear!! Oh, well, he'll get over it.

[hummingbird231]

I think im a little obsessed as well, I have a questin i need help with. Ive built trellises for my cypress vines. The problem is they are all vines and no blooms, any ideas.
Linda

[Andy Thatcher]

Patience I am told.

I have a honeysuckle that is showing the same tendencies.

Been thinking about using fertilizer to kick it into life but would rather not. The fact it is growing shows it is happy in it's environment so I would tend to let it get on with it's life until it is ready to flower.

So speaketh the man with a whole 3 months of gardening experience so apply the expression that includes the words pinch of salt !

[Steve Backes]

Linda,

My Cypress Vines have just recently begun blooming. I assume yours will soon if they haven't already. My experience with Cypress Vine is that they don't need any help.

[Andy Thatcher]

I have added Pink Porterweed and Firespike to the garden.

The Firespike is flowering fantastically well as to be fair is the Porterweed.

Not seen a hummer on the Firespike yet but the Porterweed has a regular clientele

Root stock Cardinal Plant, about 25 of them, have been planted but not expecting to see anything from them for until next year.

Have successfully managed to root Bottle Brush and have 8 tree's just lapping up the sun and starting to grow. May just play with bonsai'ing a couple of these.

Just germinated a Mimosa Tree seed and the seedling is now a whole inch and a half tall.

Had some fatalities over the last couple of months.

White Buddleia and Coral Vine have both died out. Though I have some cuttings from the buddleia I am not expecting them to live as the water pump for my misting bed has died.

Will try the Coral Vine again next Spring but as none of the buddleia have exactly taken off will probably hold back on more until I find a species that is happy in my area. Not sure what the problem is with me and buddleia as I always plant them everywhere I have been and they normally die. Annoying as when I was back in the UK going into London by train you can see them growing well out of the walls !

Plan on playing with Red Basil and a couple of others over the next couple of weeks.

Hope you are all having as much fun as I am with this !

[jana]

Hello Andy, your life will never be the same now.
Here are someothers to try
Salvia minniata
Pentas
Tithonias
Coralbean Tree
Salvia gregii
Can't think of others right now,my brain has gone to sleep.
There is a native plant nursery Green Images out in Christmas, maybe they might have some others and Lukas Nursery in Winter Park.
Jana

[hummerlover]

Andy, Firespike roots easily in a jar of water. A week & you have roots. Hummers go NUTS for it. You might want to add some Black & Blue Salvia (Salvia Guarantica). My hummers by pass everything in favor of the firespike, that is until I added the Black & Blue Salvia. Now they mainly feed on those two plants. I have many, many hummer nectar plants but those are the 2 they prefer above all else. You might also want to get some Russelia Equisetiformis (sp?) a.k.a. firecracker plant -- get the red. But beware -- that can travel & take over large areas.
Ann

[lilyopath]

And don't forget cuphea! Hummers can't stay away from it!

[hummerlover]

You're right lilyopath. And epidendrum fulgens, & Belamcanda chinensis (blackberry lily).

[pamala]

Hello, I've been trying for a year to find hummers on my property. No luck yet. I'm in the St. Cloud area of Florida. Using the glass feeders, changing regularly and now planting for them. Has anyone had any luck with "turks cap" drawing them in? Many thanks!

[goldengirl]

Andy,
I share your obsession! Since returning from a family vacation last month where hummers were our daily entertainment, I have been determined to host them at our place in Lithia. I went to Boktoberfest yesterady at Bok Tower Gardens and added to my collection a Chinese Hat plant and Dwarf Powder Puff plant. Those join the Firespike, Firecracker, Coral Honeysuckle, Bat Face Cuphea and one other kind of Cuphea (not sure what it is), Cardinal Flower, Firebush and some others that I'm not sure are going to hang around. Isn't this fun? I'm having a blast!! My little Mathilda, the only RTH I've seen so far, loves the Firecracker plant best it seems.

[andythatcher]

Glad to hear that others are afflicted !

I seem to have mislaid my original ID as I changed email address over the last year.

Thought I would update this thread a little.

Apart from a Firespike and Fire Bush everything else I have planted over the last couple of years has died really. Have a couple of young vines that seem to be doing OK but I don't expect them to flower till next year.

Have a few tree seedlings that I will plant out next year, perhaps the year after.

Buddlia's, can't ever get the spelling of that right without looking, do not seem to be that fond of central Florida.

I have 3. I had to take 2 of them back out of the ground and put them into pots before they died. It was a close run thing and I am not certain that either will make it through the winter. The largest one is still in the ground but not a happy camper. May pot that one when it has finished it's attempts at flowering.

I think I mentioned I bought 25 Cardinal Plant's. Well I planted the roots I received and.....nothing happened. Next year think I will forgo Ebay and just buy a plant.

I was up to 15 or so Shrimp Plant of various colours and they all passed away into the night.

I think I am trying to say I am still learning !