Hummingbirds and Miracle Grow ? (1 Viewer)

After a few months experimenting I managed to get a Ruby Throated Hummer regularly visiting the garden mainly due to the firebushes I planted here in Orlando.

Just plain ignores the hummingbird feeders I have out there, 4 currently ! While the hummer ignores the feeder the family of raccoons that live in the Conservation lots behind me do not.

Every now and again I have to play hunt the feeder in the undergrowth which is OK but they tend to stomp all over the firebushes.

Last time this happened the bush was basically wiped out and rather than just chuck it decided to see if Miracle Grow would help it recover. As I was treating that plant decided to do the others as well.

Next day no hummer or any day since. Thought that it had migrated but spotted 2 travelling through the garden yesterday feeding on a wild Milkweed plant.

So I have to wonder if the Miracle Grow has changed the appeal of the firebushes. The stomped plant died anyway so it was a pretty pointless exercise.

Any other experiences ?

We are renting so the plants are in plant pots so when we move we can just take them. Must confess I know less than nothing about plants really tend to leave that to she whom must be obeyed who has lived around here for 20 odd years.

Will have a look at shrimp plants, ta muchly.

As regards feeders I started off refusing to have those awful fake flowers ! So bought one without. Ermmm no success.

The wife then came back with a couple of cheapy feeders with fake flowers. Ermm no success.

Then she bought another again with flowers because she figured the angle of the other feeders flowers were not right :-O

No good again.

All of them were less than $5 a go.

Have seen them feeding happily on these kinds of feeders in Arizona, Colorado and other places but don't seem happy to do so here. That said visiting a guy in Bithlo and he had one of the glass ball one's with a tube coming out of it and had hummers visiting regularly.

Got them hanging over the Firebushes to try and get them to associate the feeders with food.

As regards trying to relocate the feeders, hummer and seed, to avoid the raccoons that is sort of impossible. As I type I have 3 sitting in my garden.

We have 4 dogs and after initially barking them off the raccoons have figured they can't get through the screen !