Haven't your heard that you are supposed to plant flowers in threes or odd numbers. Congratulations on you purchases. You will not be dissapointed.

Glo,
What a great score! I do have to tell you that seed from this plant is not always viable and seedlings do not always come true especially if you have other salvias growing in the area. To insure that you have more plants that are indeed black and blue I suggest taking cuttings and rooting them over the winter.

Penny

I stopped at Lowe's too, on Saturday, and got myself 2 B&B's. Why only 2, I'll never know! I find it funny because none of the local nurseries I had checked had them, just May Night. Then I mozied (sp?) on over to the perennial clearance racks. I needed more plants like I needed another hole in my head, but couldn't pass up the $1 columbines (2), $1 daylily, $2 peony and gaura, $1 clematis, and .50¢ unknown columbine.

Makes sense to me Mimidi! Odd is always better...learned that when I was a florist!

Penny, not only am I taking cuttings, but I put one of these babies in a pot to try and winter over/take with me if we get orders during that time. And I'll collect all the seeds I can find, and pray hard!

Tracey, you sound like you have the same disease I suffer from...just can't pass up a good deal even if I have to sacrifice something I don't care for to put it out!!! I've put several things out near our woods line that aren't doing real well in pots or are too tall for pots or...I just don't like them!!!

gotta love these little guys we strive to please!!!

glo

Same here glo, I just dug up a bunch of mini roses so I can put some penstemon, agastache and salvia. I really should plant them soon, they're still sitting in a pool from last week.

Glo,

There is always room for more flowers!

I can never find B&B. None of my salvias are doing great this year anyway though so probably a good thing. They were advertised at my Lowes but they said they never got any in. Ugh!! I even have a new garden area planned but my dogs won't be happy about it.

I have been adding to my hummingbird garden. I had 2 really great experiences in 2 days! Yesterday at the Cottage Garden Nursery a hummingbird just hovered in front of me for several seconds. Then, this morning in my own garden a hummer was eating at a flower looked at me, went back to eating and then went to the feeder.
My question for you is what is B&B?
I'm new to the forum
Thanks,
Eileen

It is Salvia Guarantica, the cultivar is Black & Blue. A lot of hummingbird gardeners grow it, especially in the east, first because it is beautiful and very attractive to hummingbirds, and because it can take our summer humidity. I'm not sure how large it will grow in California, certainly taller than the four feet in reaches here. You can find a description at "A World of Salvia" and at numerous other sites on the net. We folks here at the hummingbird forum are somewhat crazy about this plant and northern gardeners among us will go to almost any lengths to grow it.

Thanks for your quick reply!! I have heard of it. I just didn't know the nick name! I will look for it here. I have several types of Salvia already. The Hummers in my yard seem to really love the Mexican bush sage, the Waverly also the Autumn Sage.
Eileen

Eileen,
I love the B&B...haven't seen my hummer go to it yet, but even if he never does, my favorite color is blue and this one just took my breath away! It's so gorgeous!!! I've never seen it til this past week, but I don't intend to go without it again!

glo

Well, Mimidi, I am either going to sin this weekend, and go to the local nursery, or save my little sheckles and next week go to the REALLY fancy nursery down the street from where I have lunch with my Book Club Psychiatrist friends - I have been amazingly controlled for the last three weeks - having no room whatsoever for what I already own - I was told of a house for $275 a month in the country - and I had the choice of waiting to see it or putting some plants in the ground - at my age, God Bless Me, I do not want to be in the country if some part of my body decides to quit - and I am waiting to hear about a job with the chronically mentally ill, who are really my loves, which would be on the other side of town, and so if I move, it will be in that direction. Can you believe that my pots of plants would be a truckload. It makes me tired thinking about it. So I am going to sin, and stick it out here. Happy Fourth of July! I love you all!
Ellery

Lol, Ellery,
I have threatened my hubby with the same!!! Being a military man, he's moved me many times and this time, I'm taking as many of my plants with me no matter where he goes and it WILL be the last move as he's got 26 1/2 years in now... he'll retire with the next move and I'm buying a house come hell or highwater or anything else!!! I'm gettin too old to keep doing this...he's younger than me, but I'm tired!!! I want to plant beds and gardens and be the one to see them next year!

glo

Ellery the house in the country sounds so nice. We do what we have to do. Of course I live in the country and love it. I do need to add that I am about 10 minutes for a very good hospital. I have the best of both worlds--rural and city life.

I never heard of B&B. I live in Maryland and there is a Lowe's real close by, so hopefully I can locate some B&Bs - tonight after work. I still need to plant the flowers I acquired on Monday - black eyed susans and bee balm - but they can wait. I sure could use some good hummer plants.

Richard

Richard,
I got mine at the Lowes in Laurel if that helps....

glo

Our Lowe's also carries B&B. I bought 7. Oh, I just couldn't help myself.

B & B is quite wonderful. I have only one, but it's growing well and has 3 bloom spikes with more on the way. Here are 2 photos. In the 1rst pic you'll also see phygelius 'African Queen' making a splash of red-orange color in the upper right corner (some distance in the background). Also seen in the 2nd pic are 3-4 salvia gregeiis.

Patrick

Patrick,
Gorgeous!!! Went to Lowes last night and they didn't have any more!!! I would have gotten more even tho until this morning, I hadn't seen a hummer on mine. I was almost late for work cuz my little guy found the blues and went to every blossom on all three plants! It's was too fun watching him! Yeah!!!!

glo

The Lowes I went to in Gaithersburg, MD (not too far from Glo in Laurel)did have three B & B left. I bought two. Needless to say since they were the last ones left they are kind of scraggily looking. They do have a nice color. They will blend in well with all the red and orange flowers I have.

Richard

The B&B's look beautiful, but I thought hummers liked RED flowers ... Anyway, had a small feeder in my garden years ago and never got any visitors, so I took the thing down, put it away and forgot about it. Don't ask what made me decide on Monday to dig it out, wash it up, fill it and hang it, but that's what I did. Amazingly, one hour later, there was a hummingbird at it! This was the first one I had ever seen in our garden and I still can't get over it.

Oh Foofna! How wonderfull for you! They are so amazing and so fun! I'm glad something made you dig your feeder out! Hummers seem to like any brightly colored flowers... mine go to the red/oranges/purples and now the deep blue of the B&B's it just made my day this morning...actually, it almost made me late to work!!!

Richard,
My B&b's were a bit on the leggy side, but I gave them some miracle gro and snipped the spent buds/stems and they are looking wonderful already in just 10 days and they've opened lots of new buds! Hope yours do well too!!! Nice to have a neighbor who understands my passion for these birds!

glo

I haven't actually planted my B & B yet. I have quite a few plants to plant - hopefully tomorrow morning. I will cut the B & B back and hopefully it will bush out. Once I have all the plants in the ground I plan to head to the nurseriew and buy some more cardinal flowers.

I do have a brother who lives in Laurel and he also feeds the birds including hummers. I'm not sure how many hummers he has, I talked to him last night at the Orioles game and we just talked about the pileated woodpeckers that he thinks might be nesting in his yard again (his yard backs up to the Patuxent River).

Richard

Oh cool, Richard!!! We live just off the Patuxent on Ft. Meade and a couple of Saturdays ago, I had to go running in the house to get my dh to show him the pileated that had landed on a tree out back of our house! What a noise those can make!!! But, they are so pretty!!! Wish he'd been close enough for a good picture! I'm hoping they'll be around the woodpecker feeders, especially this fall!

glo

You guys are so lucky! I would give anything to see a pileated woodpecker. I know they are found in ridley creek state park but not by me. Sarah

Sarah,
I feel so blessed since moving to this house...we don't have as many hummer babies as last year, but we've seen 49 (identified) different birds from/in our yard and it's my little piece of heaven! Had to hire a cleaning company to come clean the house every two weeks (can't afford weekly) cuz dh and I are always birding one way or another before and after work and on weekends, or planting flowers with the birds in mind. Actually, it feels quite decadent!!! Never had such a luxury in my life! Still have to do the laundry after dark tho...

glo

How nice! Sarah

When we were younger my brother use to spend hours trying to get a good picture of a pileated. We had one that use to hammer away at the side of our house, but my brother could never get a picture of one. He set up his camera on a tripod and left it ready to snap a picture but never managed to get a shot of one. They never stayed in one spot long enough for him to get focused in on one.

Richard

That sounds like me and the hummers! Sarah

Richard, I live out in the woods in southeast Mississippi, and I see pileateds more and more every year. I think I've been hearing baby pileateds lately, but I can't verify it yet, since I haven't actually seen them. One day I was walking down one of the paths I've made through the woods and "whoosh!" a pileated came flying right by my ear! I'm sure he/she didn't realize I was there, since they're really pretty shy birds. Still, it was a thrill! Whenever I see one, I can't take my eyes off it!
And about the B&B, it's SOOO easy to propagate! I just dug up a good looking runner that really didn't have much of a root system of its own, planted it in a pot, put the pot in the shade and kept it moist, it made more roots quickly, I planted it, and now I've got another B&B, this one on the other side of my garden gate. You can't beat the electric blue flowers of s. guaranitica and the hummers and butterflies - especially sulphurs - love it!
Sherry

foofna...congrats on attracting the hummer! red flowers seem to really catch hummers' attention, but they feed at many different colored flowers as well. I was a bit chagrined, after buying & planting a number of plants (especially red-flowered ones) for the hummers, then found them happily eating at white-flowered privet shrubs and pale pink-flowered hardy fuchsias!

Patrick

My B & B are doing pretty well even though I haven't managed to get them in the ground yet. They have been shooting out more flowers. I don't know whether or not they have been attracting hummers, because I haven't been home during the daylight hours recently.

Richard

Pileated Woodpeckers can't stand Barred Owls. If you learn to hoot like one or play a tape of one, they will often come in the check you out. Just don't overdue it, owl calls are very disturbing to many species of birds, who will stop what they are doing and form up a mob. During the breeding season they can't be part of a mob and look after their young.

That's fascinating I've never seen a barred owl either or any owl in the wild I think I might have heard one at my sons old school a couple of years ago But I don't know what kind it was. Sarah

Patrick88 - what kind of camera did you use to take your picture of your B&B? I can't believe the detail! I'm in the market for a digital camera now so I can get some good pics in the garden.