Sunday, August 12, 2012

Winning Combination Part 2

Female Anna's Hummingbird and Turk's Cap(or Drummond Wax-mallow) AND THE shot, I've been waiting to capture.  I label this as "iconic" because it's the picture that flashes inside people's heads when I say hummingbird.  This is an on target bill to flower contact.  You'd be surprised at how much they don't go to this part of the flower....it's usually at the base of the flower.  So this was pretty exciting.
In the 2nd part of our series, I'll explore some fun hummingbird plants to place around your gardens.  The photo shoot for this particular day was extremely exciting.  I was playing around with the color here.  I don't like to alter most of my work, but I wanted to capture the gentle feel of the shade, movement and color in this series of pictures.  When you watch a hummingbird feed from your garden flowers, it's like saying, "Thank you gardener friend for helping me out."  While hummingbird feeders are great, they aren't like the flowers we place in our gardens. 
Hummingbirds are attracted to color!  Mainly they love red, yellow, and orange colored flowers but they'll stop by the blues and pinks as well.  I've seen them visit my Jacaranda tree when it has purple flowers.  It really loves the Desert Willow tree I have in my side garden during the month of June. The Turk's Cap is the featured plant.  It does well in almost complete shade with filtered sun in Tucson.  It requires moderate watering and is a native bush to Texas and Mexico.  It will grow 4 feet wide and about 4 feet in height.  Plant near or under the canopy of a tree(again in Tucson).  I will be placing this into our planters under the oak trees along our water line.  Gorgeous plant.
For gardeners not in the desert, brightly–colored flowers that are tubular hold the most nectar, and are particularly attractive to hummingbirds. These include perennials such as bee balms, columbines, daylilies, and lupines; biennials such as foxgloves and hollyhocks; and many annuals, including cleomes, impatiens, and petunias.  Many of these plants, like the hollyhock, do well in Tucson during the months of March thru May.
And as for us desert dwellers? Fucshia(shade and water), Mexican Bird of Paradise, Desert Willow, Tecoma Stans(Orange Jubilee, etc), SALVIA!!(most excellent plant for hummers), Lantana,  Fairy Duster, Verbena, Silk Tree(Mimosa), and the list can go on and on.  Think tubular:)
Another note about attracting hummers to your garden.  Group plants together.  They hover and zoom from flower to flower quickly.  If you place one flower into the garden, the hummingbird will visit and zoom off in a matter of seconds.  You want them to stay for awhile so that you can enjoy seeing them around your garden:)  Similiar to hummingbird feeders.  People with many hummingbird feeders have more frequent visits than a person with one feeder.  But this homeowner is only putting one up:)  Sugar water and maintenance can be costly on the budget and time.
And remember....attracting hummingbirds with the right kind of plants, generally also attracts various butterflies, but we'll explore that more tomorrow.  For now, I hope you've enjoyed the hummingbird in flight shots.  Here is one below that is not so good but I thought I'd show you another plant known as the Fairy Duster.  Hummers love this plant as do bees:)  More tomorrow....

20 comments:

  1. Pretty Anne's Hummingbird, I wish they would come over to England. Glorious pictures.

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  2. I'm with Bob, I would love to see hummingbirds over here. That is such a great iconic shot, the stuff of National Geographic!

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  3. Gorgeous photos Chris - I love the plant in the last photo too - The Fairy Duster! I know I've said it before but it must be truly wonderful to have hummingbirds visiting your garden :)

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  4. oh...GREAT hummer feeding shots chris!! they are so hard to get!

    where i live...they feed mostly on our honeysuckle and the gloriosa lily...but the only pictures i'm ever able to get are when they're at the feeders...and those aren't as 'natural' as yours!!

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  5. Great shots of the hummingbird. We have a ruby-throated hummer visiting our yard...but I never have my camera ready when it comes. For sure I am jealous of your photos.

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  6. These shots are really winners!

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  7. they're really lovely. i got some cleome seeds from a blogger friend last year. sewed them all along the pond but i've not seen one blossom yet. i hope they'll emerge eventually.

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  8. These are just amazing pictures. The colors are perfect. Great shots.
    You had to be doing a happy dance when you got these!

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  9. You really did get a "perfect" shot of that Anna's. No wonder the hummers come to your place with all the glorious color.

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  10. Szkoda, że u nas kolibry nie fruwają, bo z pewnością bym skorzystała z Twoich rad. Pozdrawiam.
    It is unfortunate that in our hummingbirds do not fly, because I certainly benefited from your advice. Yours.

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  11. I love it when you show the hummingbirds Chris, I've never actually seen one before, how I would love to. I can see why you were so thrilled with the top shot, well done but I also love the last shot, the muted background colours are wonderful and the 'Fairy Duster' looks a lot like some of our native Australian flowers.

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  12. Pretty shots of the Anna's Hummingbird. Another one I would like to add to my list. Great post!

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  13. Hi Cutie, I'm BACK..... What a neat post to read today!!!! I love hummingbirds and we finally have some here (mostly Ruby Throated)...

    We had a great trip --but Arkansas was very hot and very dry... However, coming home to the Cumberland Plateau was great since our weather here right now is awesome... Feels like FALL.

    Hope you have had a great week.
    Betsy

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  14. Whoa, you did get the money shot there, Chris! Nice!

    (PS I was mugged once in broad daylight with a policeman across the parking lot in front of the gym I attended so I know what you mean about being paranoid. I would hike a lot more but I am sort of scared to do it alone. Still, I would never pet a coyote pup. :-) )

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  15. Your hummingbird shots are amazing!! My camera is way too lame for shots that cool. I do well with things that don't move, like rocks. :o) Your garden sounds like one huge hummingbird buffet.

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  16. I think these are among your best shots, Chris!

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  17. Brilliantly captured! I wish we could see them in Hong Kong.

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  18. These are gorgeous! The next to the last shot is amazing. Well, they all are. See I learn so many things on your blog. Thank you for sharing your hard won knowledge.

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  19. You must be so proud of that first shot, and rightly so :)

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