How exciting for you !! I’m sure he was just as excited to have a little garden all to himself

What a happy sight!

Now I am motivated to get Hummingbird Feeder and a finch sock. :)

Aww that's so sweet!

Good idea !! There is something about attracting the wildlife that makes you feel so good .

Yes, I had a white butterfly visit the garden today and I watched it flutter around for a while. Unfortunately, the bumble bee doesn't like my flowers enough this year and I am only getting a wasp as the only regular who is really into my purslane

And I just put up a hummingbird feeder in my balcony garden and haven't seen any customers. I realize it's late in the season, but doggone it, I want me some hummers! I get plenty of bumblebees and butterflies on my flowers, but no hummers. My friend, who lives about a mile and a half away, gets lots of them. Maybe next year I'll get the feeder out much earlier in the season and be able to attract some.

I think they come around dawn when no one is watching. I think you have to give it a couple of weeks and get enough red flowers (real or fake) for them to notice. I will update in a couple of weeks how it goes. I know they pick up a place early in the season but considering I have seen a random one once last year and once this year, there is some hope.

Lol, when I have on my red beanie while in the hot tub, they will occasionally hover right over me trying to decide if I am a flower

Haha, a red or orange hat, got it. :)

Getgoing, I have, right next to the shepherd hook where the hummingbird feeder is, a hanging pot of pink/purple fuschias and a window box with rose colored calibrachoa and lantana. The bumblebees and butterflies certainly know where those flowers are, as they are frequently here. But never saw a hummer, so I added the feeder. Amazon had a flash sale on these lovely blown glass ones that look like Murano, so I bit and ordered one. And then I got a nice shepherds hook that clamps onto my balcony railing. The clear globe by the calibrachoas is a plastic vessel I rigged up to slowly drip water into that window box, as it tends to wilt due to its exposure. It's due for a watering now, which I will do shortly. It might look really wilty now, but an hour after I water, it will be perfectly restored. Couldn't water yesterday, as it was the Sabbath.

ok.. you saw the hat thing...

did you note the flag thing???

many bugs.. birds.. etc .. are attracted by scent ... but when you are moving at the speed of light ... perhaps it is visual for others .. hence the visual lure ...

it can even be a remnant piece from hob lob ... doesnt have to be expensive at all ....

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffnt&q=garden+flag&iax=images&ia=images

Thanks Ken. Yes, I did note the flag but it is going to be a bit tricky on the top floor north (a bit north west) open balcony. It is windy a lot for a large part of the growing season and most strategic railing locations are occupied by plants trying to get as much of the receding sun as possible. Plus the condo has umpteen rules. If it was the star and stripes I could get away but I will keep the tip in mind and hopefully rig something.

Esther, your balcony looks really nice. We should exchange notes. I don't see as many balcony gardeners here, especially flower gardens. Here's what it looks like right now, a bit dark (no sun at the moment.

Getgoing--thanks! My balcony garden is primarily made up of the 50 hostas and heucheras I dug up from my Queens, NY yard and brought with me to my Baltimore balcony. My analysis of plants vs. size of balcony dictated that I'd have to array them on shelving units to utilize vertical space and fit everyone in. I have hostas on 3 shelving units, hostas sitting on dollies on the floor of the balcony, fuschias hanging in the air, lantana, calibrachoa, heliotrope and portulaca in window boxes hanging from the balcony railing--you name it. Looks like you made some nice wooden shelves. I also placed a 2 x 2' vertical shed on the balcony to hold all my trowels, fertilizers, pest remedies, and hose/hose reel. It's very handy and allows me to keep a lot of supplies in a compact space.

Okay, here's the contraption I put together. Now we wait for the hummer. Also a sock for the finches at the other end.

I put an additional bamboi stick in the clematis pot, hung a carry bag (the ones one gets as a packaging with leather bags). The Hummingbird Feeder bottom was glued to the bottom of prescription bottle. The sock is hanging on a metal stick (cut off a tomato cage) run through the spare screw holes of the ikea shelf. A parallel wind chime has a similar arrangement.

Esther, I remember you looking for a temporary arrangement for your plants in the apartment balcony for an year before they go back into suitable garden. Hmmm a 2x2 shed. I keep that stuff in a dedicated kitchen cabinet and the spillover goes in a corner cubical shelf in the corner of the kitchen's dining area. I have a random mix of perennials and annuals that changes by the season and year.

A hummer just came,

But went off after a quick tasting, did I not mix it right?

I suggest you plant some red zinnias. They really are attracting hummingbirds and butterflies to my yard. Watch this helpful video to pinch the plants short to make them bush out fuller and keep the plant down at a pleasing height. Otherwise they will grow 4 ft tall. This large variety is Benary's Giant. Mine were not pinched as I just learned of that technique last week.

https://youtu.be/yL017vup4Yk

Too late to grow zinnias now, at least in my balcony with meager westerly exposure and the sun receding every day.

The flag is fluttering away but the hummer hasn't returned.

I think you were fine with your plants. For the feeder, water to sugar ratio should be 4:1 and they're pretty skittish so I wouldn't put a waving flag right by the feeder.

I listened to a podcast talking about hummingbirds and if I remember correctly, the 25% sugar water is the thickest they can drink.

Thanks Anna. My solution is 3;1, maybe I should dilute it. I already moved the Feeder at the other end to hang next to the finch socks. It was hard to get the Feeder to stay upright and not leak while on a stake and it was dripping away.

Mine eat three to one, 1/3 cup of sugar to one cup of water. They have for years and love it. Right now, I am having the "Hummingbird Wars". It starts about mid July and continues as everything moves through from up North. I am 7b North Alabama. I go from one feeder to three this time of year.

Yes, the flag will scare them off.

Thanks, Sherry. That was my original ratio 1/4 cup sugar made to one cup with water. I don't boil the water but used filtered water from the fridge. I have diluted but no luck. I will remove the flag if I don't get lucky otherwise. I did get one within an hour of putting the flag. One quick sip and off he went. I guess I will have to keep at trial and error and see what happens.

Of course, I was speaking of planting zinnias next year. It is too late to plant anything now and get an instant result. The best you could do would be to find a hanging basket with red flowers but even they are probably all sold out by now.

I had been observing the water level in the Feeder and thinking it hasn't been touched and then I saw the little guy come, take a few sips from two of the feeding outlets, actually sit on one of the provided perches underneath the outlet for a millisecond and then go off. Is that usual?

Yes, they likely have many feeders to choose from. They also defend the various feeders so if they spot another hummer at a feeder, off they go! Mine definitely stay longer when the feed has just been changed.

I am going to change the feed tonight

Yay, I changed the feed yesterday night and the level of feed left this morning tells me someone took their time drinking quite a bit of it. :) Now if I can get up in the morning to watch. :)

I was sitting on my porch this morning and at 6:30 one of them came to visit the weigela.

Nice, I woke up at 9.30 this morning. No hummers for me, obviously.