Steve, I'm sure going to miss your videos when the season is over! The cuphea is a really beautiful flower. The lantana at the edge of my patio has really grown large and bushy and still producing flowers. In the last few days, I've noticed several hummers enjoying them...a first for me! I can't remember the variety (not new gold), but it has pinkish red/yellow blooms. Hope to plant more of it next year, just haven't figured out where!

I'm still getting lots of hummers and enjoying every day with them, knowing they will begin to thin out soon. Hope I can catch the last one (sniff, sniff) to record in my journal. My last sighting last year was in mid Oct. (I think). Do you remember your last sighting '08?

Donna

thanks donna

Yes, actually last year was a record breaker as far as my last hummer sighting is concerned. My final visitor was on Oct 18th beating my previous record by two weeks. Dont even anticipate anything close to that this year the way things are going , at this point I doubt I will even see an oct. hummer.

Steve

Thanks Steve. Your Cuphea is spectacular. I bought one this year and grew it in a pot on the balcony. The heat and aphids finally got it, but I will buy more next year. It's become one of my favorite plants.

Thanks Rob

It is my most spectacular cuphea , you cant see them but there are three more cupheas right behind this one in the background. One is in a pot from a stem that broke off earlier this year and another one that was hit hard by aphids but it also is blooming well. These plants grow very fast and the cuttings root very fast also. But sadly they dont live thru my winters so I do have to take cuttings and keep them inside overwinter. Save a little money that way.

Steve

Steve, what makes schumannii more spectacular than David Verity?

Nice Steve-
I love to watch them work a plant that way. Your plant has similar flowers to my coral honeysuckle, which has bloomed profusely all summer and is a real favorite with the Hummers.
I have had good success with the Lady in Red Salvia also. It is an annual here in Delaware so I am gathering some seed for next year.
Vicki

hawkeye

Some people seem to have better luck with hummer use of david verity, but here it seems shumannii is the more used. But dont get me wrong dv is also used a good bit, I happen to like the flowers better on shumannii since they are fatter with a bigger opening.

vicki

My coral honeysuckle has been hit with bouts of aphids which has slowed its flower growth but when flowers have been out on it the hummers have enjoyed its bounty also, in fact when it had a good flush it was the fav in my yard and great fun watching hummers use it.

Hats off to the hummer for a job well done! Steve, did you get this video in the morning? Seems like my hummers like to "work" the flowers as someone mentioned during the a.m. Is that a female or juvie RT? Looks like RT to me, but I'm just a beginner.

One of mine was working the Red Pentas 'Ruby Glow' just like that this morning. I can't help but love the little mites. They are so territorial, though, and their chatter between each other can only be interpreted as rapid fire bird swearing LOL! I get lots of chuckles watching them interact with each other and the butterflies that use the fruit feeder. They all chase each other frantically trying to protect their food sources.

Anyway, I loved your video!

Susan

Hi Susan

I got my video sorta noonish, actually 12:30pm. The hummers interplay is great fun to watch. I believe the chirping/tweeting noise they make is more of a warning than anything else. And when they come face to face with a human about a foot away shows how bold some hummers can get. It also gives you a nice rush. But those sounds can also mean something else. One time this summer I had remove all feeders from my back patio to refill and you should of heard the racket they were makeing as they fluttered back and forth along my slider looking for their feeders like " where's the food man". Very comical.

Thank you for the info! My feeder hangs beneath a sort of lath that extends in a V-shape from the roof of the house. Before I bought 11 years ago, someone planted a honeysuckle that I believe is Lonicera flava (not invasive) and it climbs the support that holds up lath and grows more like a tree about 12 feet tall. Lots of winding, hanging dead wood underneath. Not very pretty but the feeder hangs from the lath and the hummers love to perch on the tangled vines by their feeder to protect it from other hummers. My butterfly feeder hangs about 3' away and the rotting bananas attract the fruit flies. The hummers also like to snag these in mid-air and they are funny to watch. They get fruit flies, sugar water, and lots of flowers. They also try to dive bomb the butterflies so there is a swirl of both at virtually all times.

The honeysuckle is also a host plant for the Snowberry Clearwing moths, aka hummingbird moths, that fly during the day. So I have tons of activity in a very small space.

Love them all; they keep me smiling and chuckling at the antics.

Susan