-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
salvia - is red best, or will any color do? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Clippyhed
- Start date
Curtis Croulet
Well-known member
Though they have a special liking for red, they will definitely use other colors. In so. Calif. they'll use -- for example -- S. apiana and S. mellifera (white) and S. clevelandii (blue). Cleveland is particularly known as a hummingbird attractor.
Tz'unun
Featherless Biped
Hi, Clippyhed. It's best to choose your salvias by species rather than color, because hummingbird preferences have to do with nectar quantity and quality. Among the many wonderful salvias that are hummingbird favorites but seldom offered in garden centers are S. guaranitica with deep violet-blue flowers, S. leucantha with velvety spikes of purple and white or all purple flowers, S. madrensis with buttery yellow spikes, and S. microphylla and involucrata with hot pink flowers. For "mug shots" and short descriptions of many species, check out Salvias Over Texas, http://webs.lanset.com/pathline/salvias.htm. An article on perennial salvias with a short list divided by color can be found on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden site at http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/plants/2003fa_salvias.html
humminbird
Well-known member
I would concur with Chris and Sheri above - they will use a plant more as a result of nectar quality and production rather than color. While I prefer to choose native plants, all of those mentioned above would be great salvia choices. I have photographed Black-chinned Hummingbirds feeding at Salvia gregii (a white cultivar) recently.
Mark
Bastrop, TX
Mark
Bastrop, TX
Clippyhed
Member
Thanks!
I appreciate such specific information. I will look for the plants mentioned. I had no idea there were so many kinds, but live & learn, right? So far I've been lucky & had plants by accident that they liked, or at least seem to like (hosta, butterfly bush, cannas, petunias, hibiscus, etc.) I've only been doing gardening & general yardwork for 3 years, & knew NOTHING about hummingbirds before that. Again, lucky me, they just appeared in my back yard one day & I ran & bought 2 feeders. They are now such an important & joyful part of my summer. Wonderful entertainment. Can't imagine summertime without them.
I thought my regulars had come back early (early April) because a bird hovered right in the spot that I normally hang a feeder, but hadn't put it out yet. Naturally, I ran into the house & started working on mixing some up. I have seen them only sporadically since then, but my feeders have steadily been going down. Do birds remember feeder locations when they migrate? If they do, they are even more fascinating, considering the long distances involved.
I appreciate such specific information. I will look for the plants mentioned. I had no idea there were so many kinds, but live & learn, right? So far I've been lucky & had plants by accident that they liked, or at least seem to like (hosta, butterfly bush, cannas, petunias, hibiscus, etc.) I've only been doing gardening & general yardwork for 3 years, & knew NOTHING about hummingbirds before that. Again, lucky me, they just appeared in my back yard one day & I ran & bought 2 feeders. They are now such an important & joyful part of my summer. Wonderful entertainment. Can't imagine summertime without them.
I thought my regulars had come back early (early April) because a bird hovered right in the spot that I normally hang a feeder, but hadn't put it out yet. Naturally, I ran into the house & started working on mixing some up. I have seen them only sporadically since then, but my feeders have steadily been going down. Do birds remember feeder locations when they migrate? If they do, they are even more fascinating, considering the long distances involved.
Tz'unun
Featherless Biped
Yes, they've got amazing memories and will come back to the same flower patches and feeders every year, as long as they're still there. You can imagine what happens when an exhausted, hungry migrant comes back to find that its favorite meadow of wildflowers has become a parking lot or subdivision over the winter.
yucca do neon
I entirely agree with the previous posts : any color will do. Besides multiple non-red salvia species in my garden in the SF Bay Area (ranging from s. clevelandii to 'Indigo Spires" to s. leucantha "Midnight"), I have ranges of reds and pinks. However, the favorite of my year-round hummingbirds and my own is the incredibly neon, non-natural pink, s. microphylla "UCB". This probably Mexican plant originated from Yucca Do Nursery in Texas (passed through UCB) :
http://montereybaynsy.com/S/salvia microphylla UCB3.jpg
Gioia
P.S. I can collect and mail seed to anyone willing to try it from seed in Texas in a hummingbird garden. Plant spreads by stolons.
I entirely agree with the previous posts : any color will do. Besides multiple non-red salvia species in my garden in the SF Bay Area (ranging from s. clevelandii to 'Indigo Spires" to s. leucantha "Midnight"), I have ranges of reds and pinks. However, the favorite of my year-round hummingbirds and my own is the incredibly neon, non-natural pink, s. microphylla "UCB". This probably Mexican plant originated from Yucca Do Nursery in Texas (passed through UCB) :
http://montereybaynsy.com/S/salvia microphylla UCB3.jpg
Gioia
P.S. I can collect and mail seed to anyone willing to try it from seed in Texas in a hummingbird garden. Plant spreads by stolons.
Oops, I think s. microphylla 'UCB' is the Salvia microphylla 'San Carlos Festival' as shown on the previously posted website for Salvias over Texas under this thread. I have to withdraw my offer to send seed - I certainly don't want to get into trouble with any nurseries offering the plant from Yucca Do.
Similar threads
