I always use 1/4 cup of sugar to a cup of water. So you got it right.

Jenny

Fairy, some suggest to increase it to 1 to 3 when migrating for an extra boost of energy.

I use 1:4, as well. My mom uses the same ratio, and she has MANY more hummers than I do here at my house. I see mine visiting the Salvias, too, though, so maybe they get a little from those. :)

Brenda

thanks all!

It is not an exact science, but I generally use the 1:4 ratio or 1:3. I don't use the store bought nectar, they don't like that as much. I have three feeders, but they also visit the flowers. Sometimes, when sitting on the front porch where all 3 feeders are, the birds check me out particuarly if wearing a bright pink or red shirt. Pretty funny. My hummers are territorial. It cracks me up when they show many hummers at the feeder on the box. They chase each other away making a squeeky racket. One of my feeders has a perch and they always land to eat. I've also seen them eat spiders.

thanks, susan! ever notice hummers around cedar trees? i see them do this at work. i wondered, is it the sap or are they catching bugs that are after the sap?

Every year we have a nest of hummers in our Red Cedar. The tree seems to be attractive to midges, mosquitoes, gnats and spiders.

Perhaps the hummers are able to have breakfast in bed? :-)

oops! i missed your post, chicka! you must be a proud hostess :)

ok, i checked the feeders at work and the supervisor of that building would have a cow if he saw these feeders (he is in the process of leaving for iraq). someone was filling them for him, but not like he did. they are all moldy.

i need to take them down (done), clean them, and fill them back up.

Ugh! That's so nasty when they get like that. I wonder how the person in charge of filling them would like moldy coffee in the morning.

Brenda

eeeeewwwwwwwwww :)

I've been having to change mine every other day - the ants have discovered it and keep getting in and drowning. I never had this problem before with my other feeder so I may be in the market for a new one.

I see the hummers in the cedar trees too. As well as a large variety of songbirds, going for the bugs or the berries in the fall. When we first moved here, I hated the cedar trees, I thought they were ugly and messy and I (still) hate their needles but after seeing how many birds are attracted to them I would never cut them down.

and those dried needles are painful to step on when your cat drags them in! :)

slightly off topic b/c this is involves my yard instead of work.

i got a pleasant surprise as the hummingbird was visiting my borage flowers. that was unexpected. has anyone else grown borage and had foraging hummers? or was it just desperate?

I've always wanted Borage in my garden, FTM, for just that reason! I've read that they really like it. And butterflies, too. I definitely would like to have more butterflies in my garden!

Did you already post a pic of the Borage? Or am I thinking of something else?

Brenda

yes i did, brenda. and now it is sprawled all over. why haven't you grown any? climate? space?

How strange your hummers will feed only one at a time. When I fed them in Wisc. I would get several. Years ago in Colorado we were at a tourist trap and they had several feeders on one deck. There were dozens of hummers at one time. They even landed on my oldest son and me. Others kept flying up to our faces and seemed to be trying to figure out who we were. The people working there thought that was strange. Sandy

hi, sandy. i always wondered about that. the most i would have at one time was two. poor hostess?

work is another story. they counted 15.

I don't get nearly the amount of hummers that my mom gets, and I love them more than she does. :D Sandy, maybe they were "old friends"!

I haven't been able to find any Borage plants here, FTM. I'd try seed, but...I'm a good adoptive plant mother, yet when it comes to raising my own, I've failed. :)

Brenda

brenda, i am horrible at seed and you have seen my stuff grow! climate may help, however. i am not sure you wil ever find plants but who knows. have any local gardening club sales? perhaps you could request and maybe someone will grow some for the sale?? i've no idea.

mine were seed, if i didn't mention that. two years later i had seed from my first sowing sprout- a volunteer that took two years to sprout. that was weird. it was also pretty small plant but the drought last year may have caused that (so basically, our drought may have slightly mimicked cally?). this year, i have huge plants volunteer from that little thing.

also, there was no mulch there to hold moisture. i do have a clay mix. my lavendar has also volunteered though much more rare. also, no mulch. my coneflower volunteers like a weed. my alyssum comes back ever year as volunteers. so, if i can get the plant in, they take over the rest (oh, how could i forget the cilantro?) it seems my self sowed early sprouters before the last frost sprouts and grows best, breaking all the rules.

i think for a two dollar seed packet you have affordable odds which are way better than gambling :)

i am also on my second volunteer red bud. i don't have a clue where that comes from!

I would be more than willing to share any number of redbuds that are springing up all over my yard. Just name a number...12...24...more? I have the same problem with borage. It is one of the more obnoxious herbs and I often wonder when I hear gardeners extolling the glories of borage just what they will be saying once the monster takes over all the available garden space. Sandy

LOL You know, it's so funny. When my mom and I hear the words "invasive" or "reseeds" (abundantly or not), we always look at each other and say, "I hope so!" The only thing I've had reseed is some Portulaca grandiflora (rose moss), and that only happened one year. It was in a large pot, too.

I don't amend my soil or mulch (on purpose, anyway), but I don't rake up the fallen leaves in autumn, allowing them to create a sort of natural mulch. Luckily, slugs aren't TOO bad here, though, or I'd have to clean up the leaf litter.

I've bought many packets of Cali natives in the past, in the hopes of growing a little bit of the West in my garden, but so far, no luck. I even tried growing some Western red bud from seeds collected off 2 of my mom's trees, but....*sob* I REALLY love those trees/shrubs, too!

I won't give up, because I love plants and gardening, but I may take a time out now and then. :D

Brenda