Today’s guest article offers some excellent tips for how to attract hummingbirds using just about anything red.

Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/prayerfriends/4562394532/

Attracting Hummingbirds – 5 Best Ways to Attract Hummingbirds with Red

All of nature is inter-related! Hummingbirds are not an exception. Due to natural selection, these tiny birds have no sense of smell but possess keen vision. The relationship of hummingbirds with red originates with the red tubular flowers which often have the highest nectar reserve. Hummingbirds have a tremendous need for nectar .They live on the edge of survival with a heart rate of about 500 beats per second that can increase to 1,200 beats per second during courtship. Heat loss is rapid due to the bird’s small size. To maintain all of that energy, a hummingbird needs to eat double its weight in food per day.

An amazing fact is that many of the beautiful flowers hummingbirds prefer have co-evolved with them over the centuries. The hummingbirds need the nectar in the flowers .The flowers need the hummingbirds for pollination. A hummingbird has an important role in the eco-system due its ability to inadvertently pollinate flowers. While hovering at flowers the hummingbird’s wings often pick up pollen and carry it on to the next flower it visits.

Hummingbirds, with their great eyesight, are attracted to bright colors. Red is the brightest color making it the favorite for these wonderful creatures. You can lure them down from their migration route by displaying red in a number of ways.

Some ways to accomplish this:

1. Plant red tubular flowers that grow throughout the summer. Hummingbirds need nectar throughout the season.
2. Hang hummingbird feeders or feeders of other colors with red feeding ports on them. Remember that hummingbirds need nectar, so hummingbird feeders are always a good idea.
3. Hang red ribbons on tree branches and on your feeders. The hummingbirds can spot them blowing in the wind.
4. Put out a red gazing ball. These beautiful, decorative objects are reflective and sometimes, the hummingbirds will approach closely. You can take interesting photographs of a hummingbird looking into a gazing ball and thinking it is the competition. Hummingbirds are very territorial.
5. Set out red objects such as a child’s red wagon. You can even fill them with pots of brightly colored flowers that hummingbirds prefer.

Showing red in these ways will most likely bring these gorgeous little birds into your yards or patios.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/bird-watching-articles/attracting-hummingbirds-5-best-ways-to-attract-hummingbirds-with-red-3596499.html

About the Author… I have always loved hummingbirds and have been intrigued by their nature. I have done extensive research on hummingbirds and together with my husband have developed a website: The Hummingbird Guide for hummingbird enthusiasts like ourselves. The Web site offers specific resources for How to Attract Hummingbirds, Amazing Facts about Hummingbirds, Planting a Hummingbird Garden, A Nectar Recipe, Hummingbird Photos and Choosing a Hummingbird Feeder.

Do any of you viewers have some more suggestions for how to attract hummingbirds using the color red?

Hummingbirds!

Ways to attract hummingbirds to your yard…

Deer invading hummingbird gardens (courtesy of: ktkoonin at href="http://www.flickr.com/ photos/koonin/2815606778)

Today’s guest author offers some really great solutions to keeping deer out of hummingbird gardens.

Also included is a list of deer-resistant hummingbird plants… how’s that for practical?

Planning a Deer Resistant Garden
There is no such thing as a deer-proof plant, since in very bad weather deer will devour almost anything. Even throughout the year when food is plentiful, they will nibble on anything, including some of the common deer-resistant plants. There are, however, plants that are commonly believed to be deer-resistant. Deer-resistant plants are considered those that are only rarely munched on, but never devoured.

Cute as they are, it takes only one instance of finding your favorite plants munched to the ground to change your mind about having these pesky and persistent animals around your yard. Even suburban homes are susceptible to deer invasions, and suburban deer are more used to humans so even bolder than their rural cousins.

Deer, like us, have preferred foods, and they include many of our favorite plants such as roses, daylilies, hostas, and tulips. They can strip a vegetable garden bare overnight or destroy new fruit trees that are not protected by tall and strong fencing. So unless you are willing to cage or fence all your plants, it is better to make some alternate planting choices.

Many of the plants we now plant as ornamentals but which were once considered medicinal are prime choices for deer-resistant plantings. Some of these have poisonous properties, while others are strongly scented or have leaves that are unpalatable. In general deer avoid eating coarse, fuzzy or spiny plants with strong aromas, especially minty or lemony ones. Here are some possible choices that will save you from utter frustration because these cute pests have eaten your plants:

Bulbs: Daffodils, snowdrops, ornamental onions, grape hyacinth.

Annuals: Ageratum, larkspur, lantana, gaillardia, sweet alyssum, snapdragons, California poppies and dusty miller

Biennials and Perennials: Achillea, alliums, monkshood, hellebore, Russian sage, lavender, chrysanthemums, coreopsis, dianthus, penstemon, delphiniums, iris, foxglove, rudbeckia echinacea and bleeding heart.

Groundcovers: Ajuga, periwinkle, berengia, St. John’s wort, lamium, sedums and snow-in-summer.

Vines: clematis, Boston ivy, wisteria, trumpet vine, morning glory.

Shrubs: Buddleia, barberry, American box, Ceanothus, dogwood, fragrant daphne, forsythia, mahonia, mock orange, rhodendrons, rugosa roses, syringa, and weigela.

Keep in mind that these plants are deer-resistant, not deer-proof. Any small or new plantings are likely to be browsed or pulled out of the ground as deer experiment with their taste. Trees and shrubs are often damaged until they are mature enough to come back from the occasional browsing. Plants that are ignored in one region may be eaten in another, and plants that have been ignored for years may suddenly be the favorite food this year. Be patient enough to find out the tastes of your local deer, and plant accordingly.

Look for more landscaping and gardening tips, links and great articles from gardening expert, Nicki Goff, on her blog, Through Nana’s Garden Gate. She also offers a free e-mail starter course on setting up your own home herb garden. along with a comprehensive herb gardening e-book.  Visit her website for access.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicki_Goff

Pretty good tips, right? If any of you have some of your own deer-resistant hummingbird garden solutions, share them with the rest of us in the comments below.

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Hummingbirds love syrupy petunias

Why Do Hummingbirds Chose Petunias And Not Roses?

Why in the world would a hummingbird pass up a heavenly scented rose in favor of a rather non-event petunia! 

Well, you could say the little guy is too busy staying alive to “smell the roses” along the way. But actually, it’s because hummingbirds aren’t drawn to fragrance. What attracts them are color and nectar. 

This is a key element to remember when creating landscape gardens for hummingbirds. Fortunately, there are at least 150 North American flowering plants that attract hummingbirds to your garden… without relying on fragrance.  

Some hummingbird favorites:

Unless you live in “paradise”, make sure to choose those plants that match your area’s hardiness zone. 

Coral Honeysuckle Vine…

(Lonicera sempervirens) Deep green foliage; red tubular flowers with yellow interiors produced freely; long bloom period; average, well-drained soil; sun to shade (full shade reduces flowering). Zones 3-10 (Note: not to be confused with the invasive yellow flowered Japanese species L. japonica).
  

Trumpet Vine…

(Campsis radicans) Deep green foliage; clusters of orange-red tubular flowers; vigorous, high climbing woody vine; full sun. Zones 4-10 (Caution: use a strong support well away from structures, or cut back yearly in late winter to keep it within bounds). 

Red Morning Glory Vine…

(Ipomoea hederifolia) Annual. Neon-red, funnel flowers; re-seeds readily; full sun; all zones. 

Bee Balm…

(Monarda didyma) Perennial. Dense stand of foliage; fringed, whorled flowers appear at end of branches; full sun to partial shade; zones 3-10… species determines sun, shade, and zones. (Note: pull up any spreading roots in early spring as soon as leaves appear). 

Cardinal Flower…

(Lobelia cardinalis) Perennial. Tall, deep-red stems; red, fringed flowers; sun to shade; zones 3-9. 

Petunia…

(yes, the plant that beats out the mighty rose!). (Ruellia brittoniana) Annual. Select red, pink, salmon, and purple varieties with simple flared flowers; all zones (annual). 

Texas Sage aka Scarlet Sage…

(Salvia coccinea) Perennial. Leaves mostly at bottom of branch-like stems; bright red funnel flowers along top several inches of stems; sun to partial shade; zones 7-11. 

Mexican Sage…

(Salvia mexicana) Perennial. Leaves cover bottom of branch-like stems; blue funnel flowers along top several inches of stems; sun to partial shade; zones 8-11. 

Anise-scented Sage…

(scented to us “nostril” beings). (Salvia guaranitica) Perennial. Scented leaves; blue funnel flowers; sun o partial shade; zones 7-12. 

Red Columbine…

(Aquilegia canadensis L.) Perennial. Flowers are downward facing, yellow petals fading to red towards the spur; sun to partial shade; zones 3-8. 

Impatiens…

(Impatiens …) Annual. Select red, pink, salmon, and purple flowered varieties; sun or shade; all zones. 

How to Acquaint Hummingbirds with the Garden You’ve Planted Just for Them…

You might want to hang a feeder or two in order to entice them to visit your new garden. Just make sure to hang the hummingbird feeders close to the new plants to encourage them to check out their new food supply. 

It won’t take long for your neighborhood’s busy little hummers to find the feast you’ve prepared for them. 

Those who say “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” certainly don’t have a lick of sense when it comes to flowers for hummingbirds – these little tufts of fluff would much rather have petunias!