Hummers don't eat seeds, but goldfinch will eat salvia seeds. They were particularly fond of transilvanicia seeds, that is however, a purple flowered salvia.

I can't thank the birds enough for the mysteries that they've given me since I began gardening. It's always nicer when it's a welcomed surprise ;)

Ye, no kidding. I've got something coming up in a mum patch that looks like a giant flowered helenium. Questions include, what is it, did I plant it in some plant-a-holic haze, or did some joker sneak it in while I was out. I remember a gardening friend telling me she used to sneak plastic flamingos into snotty gardeners yards at night. Now that I think of it, how did she come by the flamingos originally.

Maybe if I keep writing it'll all tie back into hummingbird gardening? But that might not be until their return in April. Excuse me while I lapse back into my plant-a-holic haze.

I figured that it was unlikely that the hummers ate salvia seeds. I mainly had images of the seed travelling on their bodies from bumping into the plants. Is an accidental swallowing of a seed possible?

The goldfinch idea may be the answer, I have quite a few of them. But I can't say that I've seen them in those particular areas. (They trash the purple cones and zinnias nearby though.)

Thanks for your thoughts. Still a salvia mystery! Doo do doo do!

LOL....
Still a salvia mystery! Doo do doo do!

Exactly!!! My goldies love the seeds on the pink/coral colored salvia. I haven't a clue what they're called as the tag just said annual salvia and I liked them. They are in a pot along my driveway and now I've got little ones coming up all over in the grass around that pot! Dh says they can't stay!

glo

I found a dature growing in a bed this year in the midst of a patch of jewelweed when I was pulling out spent annuals. I had one last year but pulled it and discarded it before the seed developed so this one was quite a surprise. I also have mega salvia coccineas that have already reseeded as well as petunia intergritfolias babies coming up in a pot that I had already discarded the plants from.

Penny

Don't mention datura - a bad weed in my veggie garden. I've always suspected that datura seeds can sit in the soil for years before sprouting. There's also the lazy factor. Late summer into fall is the rationalization season for me. Those weeds won't reach maturity, and what the heck, why not put off the work until next year when there is no longer a choice. Besides, since weed seeds live in the soil for decades, what's the point? This year I'm probably getting punished for my sloth during the first year of the Clinton Administration. That's right, I had a liberal attitude toward datura that year.

LOL wardw! My first datura was a "volunteer" a few years ago; appeared out of nowhere. I've been hooked on them ever since. Naturally, I assume I have a bird to thank for it. I guess they're no so poisonous to the birds? The goldfinches go crazy over my echinaceas, rudbeckias, zinnias, oenothera biennis, sunflowers and agastaches (Honey Bee Blue, Blue Fortune & Yellow Giant). They've done some serious damage when they shake those seedheads up on the agastaches (reseed, reseed, RESEED!!!)...

Goldfinches are not spreading your seeds of salvia since goldfinches shell seeds before they eat them and chew or grind up the insides. Thus, when they poop, no intact seeds capable of sprouting come out. This is true of other finches, sparrows, cardinals, etc. Even many birds such as doves, quail, ducks, etc., that swallow seeds whole have a gizzard that grinds the seeds up.

BN

So the mystery continues! Thanks for your contribution to the discussion. I'm now wondering if I tracked them in, but I can't say I've walked anywhere that red salvia was growing.

Doo do do doooo!