Hi Lary and Deb! Welcome to the group of hummer addicts! LOL

A good first step might be to go through this thread to get some ideas of plants that are natural hummer attractants. My very first was attracted to one of my then-reblooming weigelas and to my goldflame honeysuckle - way before I had any feeder... and in fact, my honeysuckle is just barely starting a rebloom cycle and my little regular couldn't wait to start buzzing around it and getting the nectar from it. I knew there was a flower there ready to open and I soon as I saw her this morning over there, I wondered if the flower was open and sure enough, it has started to open and she was right on it!

Once they find your spot and you have some plants that they like, you may find them moving between the feeder and the plants... although some ignore feeders and just do plants while others may ignore some of the plants and hang out at the feeder. But in any case, they are fun to watch... like big bees!

I'm in MI too. I bought a hummer feeder about a month ago. All it attracted was ants. I took it down. My sister swears by bee-balm plants and hummers are everywhere, she'll see them buzzing by her head. But she lives more out in the country than I do,

Hope that helps, I just want to get rid of the ants!!
Heather

One suggestion is to make sure you change the sugar water on a regular basis. People get discouraged when then do not see hummers and they stop changing the water. Just because you do not see them, does not mean they are not there. If you only have one or two visiting you are not as apt to see them, and a drop in the level of the sugar water is not as noticeable.

Richard

When I bought this house the previous owner had no blooming plants. First thing I did was plant a row of ten firebush (hamelia patens) on each side of my driveway. They grew into nice hedges quite quickly. The hummies and butterflies love them!!! Lots of nectar filled flowers when it's bloom season and good colorful foliage when it's not.

(there are photos of the firebush hedges on my member page)

~ Cat

I bought one of the perky pet feeders the tall glass one (it doesn't drip at all) and the hummers were on it immediately. They are active in the morn and early eve, but I see them all day. My morn. wake up ritual is to get my cup of coffee and sit on my deck and watch them--so far I can tell that there are two different ones and a ruby throated one too. One of them will feed then perch on top of the sheperds hook, feed some more, perch...
Try the perky pet feeder...

This is a long range suggestion, but my first sighting came some years ago in spring when our azaleas bloomed. I got a feeder right away and they have been coming ever since. Every spring when the azaleas start blooming it's like clockwork, the hummers are right there. I always attributed that first appearence to the azaleas, and now they just automatically show up and go right to where the feeder hangs. I'm not sure how azaleas grow where you are, but if they do, I know for sure hummers like them.