congrats - two is still my max. and your flowers are ahead of mine. Let us see when you have your pictures - always good.

lisa

Good going Stephen! Get the male, get the cure!

It's hard to know for sure how many, at least a half dozen or so. The male which had the yard staked out earlier in the season is now sporadic, as are the adult females. There have been as many as four young at once. The birds are visiting everything. They seem to be guarding the patches of crocosmia rather closely, which makes weeding around them somewhat of an event. In the morning when the flowers are fresh, salvia uliginosa is a favorite, but as the day wanes salvia coccinea and the various bush sages get more attention. Several other New Jersey folks report seeing more activity in the past few weeks, one them didn't have any hummer activity until recently. Lets hope we're all flush into september.

That's great Stephen ! I'm so glad keep looking for the male I'm sure he's around I have 2 males who prefer the feeders The juveniles go everywhere but mostly love to fight. See if the male comes to the feeders in the rain that brings all of them out! Ward I am very envious of your ugliosa mine is off to a slow start Only one minor bloom You are way ahead of me! Sarah

that's great that you're getting some more activity there, stephen. sounds like you had a successful nesting nearby. are you getting in any hours in the cabana? have you seen them from in there? I think beebalm has been the best for sightings so far here this year, and I've seen them twice this week at the robert kemp cannas. can you deadhead beebalm? will it bloom again? thanks.
let's see some pics when you get your camera back!

I thought I had replied to this post but apparently I had one of those senior moments.

Stepehn I am glad you are getting more hummer activity. It seems to have picked up around here too.

Standard I hope you can deadhead the cannas because I have been deadheading mine. Now we will wait and see what Stephen has to say.

Sara, did your Uliginosa overwinter in the ground? Except for a small piece, mine mostly died. Last fall I took cuttings and grew them out in eight inch pots on the back porch. By the time they went into the ground in early May they were 3 feet tall and already in flower. The bent over stems I just buried in the ground where they took root. Mine was like yours last year. It never got taller than maybe 4 feet and while it bloomed fairly well, it didn't bloom well early. I'm still not entirely sure how two pots and some buried stems turned into a four by five by seven foot tall patch, but however it happened it has been a big hit with visitors, who say it reminds them of giant lavender. The patch at Rancocas Nature Center is also growing quite well. I should have staked and wired that patch like the home patch. It, along with a monster Indigo Spires, is shouldering out a massive amount of space, more than I planned for.

As usual I've gone on too long, I just can't seem to make short statements. Sorry.

mimidi, I have been deadheading the robert kemp cannas, and they bloom again very nicely.
I was wondering about the jacob cline beebalm. should one deadhead those? will they bloom again? thanks.

Standard, I have been cutting off the big old dead flower heads, and more seem to keep popping up - it's been blooming since June in a large pot, and is just beginning to get a little mildew.

thanks, ellery, I'm going to do that this evening.

Thanks everyone for the kind words and yes just like Ellery I deadhead spent Bee Balm blooms.What usually happens with Bee Balm is you get a pair of smaller blooms after the first big flush of blooms.If I deadhead I can keep it blooming until aroud early August.Mine is almost done .
The best thing about my Bee Balm is that it gets them locked into my yard and blooms until other hummer Perennials and Annuals get a chance to get going.By the time my Bee Balm is spent in mid summer there are alot of other choices for the hummers to go to.
I like to grow the Red Hot Pokers and Crocosmia because they fill that exact same niche here.
-stephen

I completely agree Stephen, if you want lots of hummers there should be no gaps in flowering, and the bigger the show the better. Hummers need lots of flowers to get enough to eat, and numerous places to feed so they don't spend all their time in territorial conflict. I'm also a believer in enlisting the neighbors when possible - if they like a hummer plant, make sure they get some as soon as possible.

Ward thanks for the info. I think one or two stalks did come back from last year But I ordered more this past winter and I planted it near my original patch (bad idea) since that's right next to obedient flower which is extremely agressive and invasive and is taking over everything in it's neighborhood. I will try that burying stems in dirt It's a funny plant none of the plant stalks are straight they are sprawled all over the place it kind of reminds me of Monarda punctata dotted horsemint the way it behaves in my garden.

thanks, stephen, and all, I deadheaded the beebalm, and I'll watch it closely. although other plants were blooming here earlier, beebalm is the first one I saw hummers on this year. it really does apparently attract them to your yard. now that they are fading out, the robert kemp cannas are getting like hummerports.
I'll have to add red hot poker and crocosmia to my list.