Hummingbirds in the Garden
September 30th, 2008 · 4 Comments
Want more hummingbirds in fall? Fill your garden with pineapple sage!
It’s September 30 and ruby-throated hummingbirds are still numerous in the garden. This summer I put in a couple pineapple sage plants, which bloom in fall and have now become favorite nectaring spots for migrating hummingbirds. Really, all the flowers in the garden are attracting them now. The little birds only occasionally stop at the feeders, preferring the natural stuff over sugar water.
Pineapple sage, annual salvia, and knockout roses are the main attractions
Last year, the last hummingbird came through our yard about this time. But we had only lived here for a few weeks then and had just a few plants in the ground. It’ll be interesting to see if hummingbirds come through later into October now that we’ve got, oh, a couple hundred blooming plants out there. If I were to offer advice on attracting hummingbirds, it might be to skip the feeders and just plant a ton of flowers. That way you get the double delight of a lush garden and lots of little green birds.
Weeping willows offer perfect perches
The weeping willow we put in near the dry creek turned out to be the ideal perching area for ruby-throats. They vie for the highest arching branches, but will settle for a lower one if a bossier hummingbird has already claimed the topmost spot.
One area of what has become a hummingbird garden
This is where I shot this morning’s hummingbird pics. The tall red bloom is pineapple sage, a fall bloomer. When you rub the leaves, a delicious pineapple scent emerges. The shorter red bloom is annual salvia. Josh is itching to replace it with pansies for winter, but it just keeps looking good. I told him yesterday that he can’t take it out until we stop seeing hummingbirds in the garden. It’s for the best, anyway, because we might still have some heat and pansies do better in cooler weather.
Tags: Garden · Pineapple Sage · Ruby-throated Hummingbird · Salvia
4 responses so far ↓
1 jan m // Sep 30, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I have never heard of pineapple sage. Glad the hummingbirds are in your good care. They left me many weeks ago, and I miss them.
2 Iris // Sep 30, 2008 at 8:04 pm
It’s a type of salvia. I bought mine at Walmart for maybe a buck apiece. It makes a nice addition to tea (iced and hot), and I found a recipe for walnut-p. sage pesto that sounds pretty good. Pineapple sage is one of the top three flowering plants that hummingbirds feed at in their high-altitude wintering grounds in Mexico. Who knew?
3 Mary // Oct 1, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Iris, the nectar feeders were a hit this year but I noticed they do prefer the flowers. More often, I’d see them on the water hibiscus and wildflowers. I hope I remember to get in touch with you next spring for your hummingbird flower recipe…
Over the weekend I had five. I saw one yesterday, none today but that doesn’t mean they’re gone for good.
I saw my last one on October 6 last year.
Thanks for your tips on my blog about bird feeders. We’ve been living here for three years now and our gardens are still a work-in-progress. Maybe in a few years I’ll ditch the feeders altogether and still have the birds! That would be GREAT!
4 rebecca // Nov 4, 2008 at 1:05 pm
It’s Nov. 4th and I just spotted a ruby throated hummingbird feeding from my fuschias (portland, oregon garden)