| |
| |
|
Landscaping & Gardening Information |
|
|
|
CSnet7.com Home Page
About Hummingbirds and How to Attract Them to Your Garden
Visualize watching a bright green hummingbird in your garden moving from flower to flower in search of the tasty nectar within. These beautiful and tiny birds weigh about 2 to 20 grams and are found in a wide variety of environments from the high Andes to lowlands, and from dry desert areas to rainforests. They have slender beaks, extensible tongues, ten primary feathers, and tiny feet suitable for perching but not walking. Hummingbirds can fly straight up, straight down, backwards, left, right, and even upside down. While most birds obtain their flight strength only from the down stroke, hummingbirds have power on the up stroke as well. Most hummingbirds flap their wings about fifty times a second and have a very fast heartbeat and high body temperature. They feed every ten minutes or so throughout the day and typically consume two-thirds of their body weight in a single day. Their source of nutrition is primarily nectar from flowers, as well as sources of protein from insects and tiny spiders. The key to attracting hummingbirds to your garden mainly consists of the right type of flowers and places where they can perch and rest during the day, such as trees or large plants. Hummingbirds are guided by visual means and are particularly attracted to certain shades of red. According to The Hummingbird Society, there are several possible explanations for their preference of red blossoms. Given that insects also see nectar, they can be regarded as competitors. Nearly all insects see well in the visible and near-ultraviolet light but poorly in the red end of the spectrum. Also, a red blossom may appear nearly black and unattractive to a number of insects, but not to the hummingbird, which can see the full visible spectrum but also some in the ultraviolet. This makes it less likely that an insect has taken nectar from a red flower. Another likely explanation is that during migration, red blossoms effectively contrast with a green environment more than other colored flowers do. Hummingbirds are welcomed guests to nearly all gardens. By planting flowering shrubs and plants that are their favored food source, we can easily attract them to become regular visitors to our gardens. Below is a short list of their preferred flowering plants by common name, separated by region: Southeastern United States: ? Butterfly Bush ? Cardinal Flower ? Coral or Trumpet Honeysuckle ? Cypress Vine ? Native Trumpet Creeper ? Texas Sage Southwest United States: ? Indian Paintbrush ? Lantana ? Lily of the Nile ? Mexican Honeysuckle ? Texas Sage ? Western Coral Bean West Coast United States: ? Beebalm ? Bottle Brush ? Cape Fuchsia ? Colombine ? Salmonberry ? Woodland Orchard Northeastern United States: ? Blue Lobelia ? Cardinal Flower ? Hollyhock ? Red Morning Glory ? Salvia ? Scarlet Sage Midwest United States: ? Coral Bells ? Coral Honeysuckle ? Foxglove ? Hosta ? Impatients ? Lilac Even though flowers are the natural means to attract hummingbirds to your garden, man-made feeders filled with a mixture of water and sugar (sucrose) are an essential alternative. Sugar, whether from a flower or a feeder, is a necessary nutrient in a hummingbird's diet. Tests have shown that hummingbirds favor sucrose in flower nectar more than other sugars such as fructose and glucose. Therefore, with the proper ratio of ingredients, your feeder becomes a good substitute to the flowers that hummingbirds like best. The formula for the mixture used in hummingbird feeders is 4 parts water (not distilled) to 1 part table sugar. Boil the mixture for one to two minutes, then cool and store in refrigerator. The mixture can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week. Do not use red food coloring, honey, or artificial sweeteners in your mixture, as this could be harmful to the hummingbirds. If one of your goals is to attract hummingbirds to your garden, a visit to your local nursery is a great starting point. Find an experienced employee who can tell you which species of plants grow well in your area and have a history of successfully attracting hummingbirds. Most importantly, be imaginative and have fun planting and growing your garden to attract beautiful hummingbirds. Lesley Dietschy is a freelance writer and the creator/editor of The Home Decor Exchange and the Home & Garden Exchange. The Home Decor Exchange is a popular home and garden website featuring resources, articles, decorating pictures, free projects, and a shopping marketplace. The Home & Garden Exchange website is a link exchange program and directory dedicated to the home and garden industry, as well as offering free website content and promotional ideas. Please visit both websites for all of your home, garden, and website needs. http://www.HomeDecorExchange.com http://www.HomeGardenExchange.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Landscaping-Gardening - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Canopy Swings - Escape the Weather with One Do you love to sit outdoors and swing for hours but have to cut your relaxing excursions short due to the intense sun or brief summer showers? Do you get tired of having to wipe down your outdoor furniture before you can actually sit in it and enjoy it without fear of soiling your clothes? If so, maybe you should think about getting a canopy swing or purchasing canopies for your existing swings.Canopy swings offer a haven of comfort on extremely hot and sunny days or cloudy days when brief showers threaten. How to Grow Chocolate Cosmos Chocolate cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguinea) is both nose and eye candy for your garden. When it's in full bloom, mature blossoms on long, slender stems look like candy kisses on a stick and fill the late afternoon with the sweet scent of vanilla tinged chocolate. The Basics of Growing Roses So you want to grow roses? They are a beautiful choice for your garden and not nearly as difficult to grow as you might think.Choose a rose that is easy to grow. Selling Your House? Mow Your Lawn! A property that has a well manicured lawn has one of the best chances at showing pride in ownership than any other outdoor technique.For one thing, there is a large upswing in the priority that homeowners place in their outdoor living spaces. Beauty After life - Plants For Drying - Grasses Dried plants and dried flowers are midway for people who cannot afford gardens or costly fresh flowers and artifical flowers or plants for decoration. The household woman will get immense satisfaction, if she can nurture the hobby of making these dried flowers and plants, and then decorate her home. Invite Spring Early - Grow in Your Basement Now's the time to get ready to grow your own seedlings! It's not really difficult, and can extend your growing season by many weeks. For example, by planting brassica's (cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower) in February in your basement under grow-lights, you can put large, sturdy transplants into your garden by the end of March or early April, and be eating them when others are just seeing them come up! However, remembering that photosynthesis, using light, heat and moisture causes plant growth, you must follow a few key natural principles very carefully, or you will be disappointed. The Truth About Tulips Roses may be beautiful but Tulips are magnificent. The huge colorful blooms we associate with Holland make stunning bouquets. Come With Me To The Casbah! A ripe persimmon is a thing of beauty - sweet, succulent and an amazing shade of orange-red. Orange and red continue to be popular colors in decorating this year but 2004's shades are softer and more vibrant, like ripe persimmons and pomegranates. Closing Up Your Container Garden All good things eventually come to an end and so summer is waning, even as autumn gives most of us a fresh start. I'll bet your summer container plantings aren't really benefiting, though, from the "back to school-oh I love a clean notebook" boost and aren't dying as gracefully as summer itself is. Gardening is Good Therapy Many of us garden just for the sheer joy of it. But did you know that all over the country the healing aspects of gardening are being used as therapy or as an adjunct to therapy?Although this might sound like a new concept, garden therapy has been around for decades. Introduction to Aquaponics Hydroponics and aquaponics are very similar in every way except hydroponics requires the addition of fertilizer and there's no fish in the nutrient solution.In aquaponics, plants and fish live a symbiotic life with the fish feeding the plants, and the plants cleaning and filtering the fish's environment. Adirondack Furniture - What It is and Why You Want It Adirondack is the name given to a style of furnishings that date back to the late 1800's. During this time period, immediately following the civil war, upstate New York gained notoriety as a popular tourist destination. Decorative Garden Accents Think of your garden like you would a room in your home. After planning the shape, tilling the soil, choosing the right plants the last step is to add those personal touches. Buying a Lawn Mower Anyone with a lawn, no matter how small will at some point need to cut the grass, up root any weeds etc. Like most people, I normally manage to do this at weekends. Mole Traps: Can You Use Them? Mole control is one of the most complicated problems thatcan face a gardening enthusiast.It is not from lack of information. Moss on Lawns Just about right now, we start to see moss on lawns and the plaintive cry goes up, "How do we stop it?"The first thing to understand is that moss is not going to survive in a healthy lawn. The existence of moss is a symptom that the lawn is not in good shape. 10 Tips for Successful Rose Planting Planting roses isn't actually complicated, as long as you have some good advice and tips to start with.. Science Cant Explain Everything! You will know that if you have spent at least some time reflecting on the world around you, some things cannot be explained in purely scientific terms. Armies of scientists and researchers swarm in labs around the world trying to take the mystery out of every bit of wonder we witness. Lady Bugs Are Your #1 Natural Pest Control First, this bug has many names. Some of it's names are:lady bugs ladybugs lady beetle asiatic lady beetle Asian Lady Beetle Asian Lady Bugs Multicolored Asian Lady BeetleThe Ladybird Beetle is the correct name for a Lady bug and are not bugs but are beetles. Multi Purpose Tree - Sugar Palm Palm family is unique in the aspect that most of its members have muli purpose benefits to the mankind, unrivalled by few other trees. There are several palm species such as Borassus, Areca, Sago, Fish Tail etc.
|
|
home | site map | Coffee | Fashion | Landscaping and Gardening Lawnmower Source | CSnet7 | CShroeder | Gifts |
| © 2006 EZmatic.com |
