How To Attract Hummingbirds To Your Garden - Part Two

Today I'm posting the second part of the article by Marilyn Pokorney on How to Attract Hummingbirds to Your Garden. It's  interesting to read all the advice she gives because most of it seems obvious but is often overlooked by gardeners - amateurs and pros as well. So if you want to see your garden being visited by hummingbirds, make sure you follow the tips below.


"Avoid pesticides. These chemicals kill the insects that hummingbirds eat for protein and can also sicken or kill the birds.

Add plenty of places for the birds to perch. Hummingbirds spend around 80% of their time sitting on twigs, shrubs, and other available resting places.

Provide red hummingbird feeders hung about thirty feet apart throughout your yard. Never fill your feeders with anything but a sugar-water mix of 1 part white sugar to 4 parts boiled water. Do not use food coloring or artificial sweeteners of any kind, and never, never use honey which can develop a fungus which can be fatal to hummingbirds. Clean and refill the feeders every 3 days. More often if temperatures are above 85 degrees F.

Hang the feeders on a pole in a flower bed or on a porch or deck near flowers hummingbirds are attracted to".

(to be continued)


About the author:

Author: Marilyn Pokorney
Freelance writer of science, nature, animals and the
environment.
Also loves crafts, gardening, and reading.
Website: http://www.apluswriting.net/

 

How To Attract Hummingbirds To Your Garden - Part One

Hummingbirds are specially welcome to any garden, be it a small one or a large yard. They positively add to the spot you grow so carefully. Below you will find some ideas by Marilyn Pokorney on how to attract those cute critters. 

Part One

"Planting a garden full of red flowers is the best way to attract these beautiful jeweled birds.

Plant bee balm, butterfly weed, columbine, cardinal Flower, coral bells, cosmos, dahlias, four-o'-clock's, fuchsias, morning glory, petunias, zinnias, trumpet vine, or honeysuckle. A web search will reveal many more.

Be a hummingbird magnet by having as much red in your backyard as possible. Besides flowers use gazing balls, backyard furniture, ribbons, and other yard decorations. Create both sun and shade areas in your hummingbird garden. Offer an abundance of nesting materials to encourage nesting
females. Hummingbirds prefer downy like materials, spider webs, ferns, moss and lichens for their nests.
Make certain that there is always fresh water available for drinking as well as for bathing. Set up misters. Hummingbirds love to take "leaf baths," rubbing against wet leaves or just sitting on a branch having the mist fall upon them."

Author: Marilyn Pokorney
Freelance writer of science, nature, animals and the environment.