Half A Year Is Not Enough

By Bernice Maddux

Spring arrives on hummingbird wings;

Of this I have no doubt,

When they arrive, I know it’s time

To put sweet nectar out.

I realize they’ve traveled far

To spend six months with me.

So I will do my very best

To make their visit worry-free.

I’ll cultivate sweet blossoms,

Filling beds and pots with red.

They will supervise the job

As they buzz high above my head.

They ask so little, give so much,

Adding sweetness to my days.

Half a year is not enough

To behold all their winning ways.

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Hummers and Orioles are on the way. Hummingbirds arrive during March and April as they return from their winter migration.

Dr JB's Easy Clean Feeder

This is a great time to get out your hummingbird feeder and to get ready for their return. Be sure to check out our new Dr. JB’s Easy Cleaning Feeder, the best hummingbird feeder ever made! Solid and durable construction and easy to fill and clean.

Fliteline Jelly Feeder

Colorful Orioles begin arriving in April, so plan to get your out then. We have a great new product, BirdBerry   Jelly, that you can use in our Songbird Essentials Fliteline Jelly Jam Feeder. Over the counter jelly is very high in sugar content, so the lower sugar and higher fruit content of BirdBerry Jelly more closely matches their natural food sources. The unique grape/blackberry flavor keeps Orioles and other birds (like Catbirds and Woodpeckers) coming back for more.

BirdBerry Jelly

Red Hot Poker

Another Flower to Attract Hummingbirds and the admiration of your friends and neighbors! The common name is Red Hot Poker. I suggest  Flamenco or Kniphofia uvaria. It blooms over a longer time period and has more blooms in total.    Hummers love their three foot flower spikes.  The flower spikes are a red-orange with a mellow yellow at the base.  The strap-shaped foliage adds a nice contrast to other plants.  The plant can be two feet high and three feet wide.  Plant it in full sun with good drainage.  This plant is both heat and drought tolerant once established, a truly care free plant!   Hardy in Zones 5 to 9.

Click here to see vido on how to grow Red Hot Poker Plants video_4992906_grow-redhot-poker-kniphofia-uvaria.html

Fountain Plant

The Fountain  Plant or Russelia equsetiformis is the one!   It is also commonly called the Firecracker plant also. Its brilliant red flowers appear on 12-inch long sprays throughout the warm season.  The blooms are 3/4 “to 1” in length and are narrowly tubular, making them ideally suited for the long, slender bills of hummingbirds.

Other common names for this plant are coral fountain, firecracker plant, rain of fire, and coral blow.  With its cascading fronds and red blooms planted in a tall slender red pot, it will be a great focus plant!  I love containers as you can vary the forms and colors you select and they can be moved to show them off when in full bloom, then retired to less prominent

Flowers of Fountain Plant

locations when not at their peak of glory.

The Fountain Plant can reach 3 to 6 feet high and 4 feet wide.  If that is a bit large for you, just limit the width of the container but keep good height to the container as the branches take root easily and may  have a tendency to be invasive.  Or, to simplify, just plant it in a hanging pot!