If you are interested in seeing some of the hummingbird photos I took this summer they can be found at http://www.home.earthlink.net/~janescibelli/

I ended up attracting quite a few hummingbirds this summer. Of all the plants i planted to attract them they seemed to prefer my orange and yellow lantana and my morning glories. Although they were still frequent visitors at my hummingbird feeders. Most of the hummers I saw this summer were males.

We started out using hummingbird nectar that we purchased at Lowes. But later decided to mix our own. I am using 1 part sugar to 3 parts spring water. I change my feeders weekly using hot water to clean them..

Once a month I use a bleach solution. So far this is working out good.

The first hummingbird feeder we bought has a glass bottle with a copper top and copper bottom. The only red was four red flowers. I was concerned there wasn't enough red to attract the hummers. So I cut red tape into triangles and decorated the glass with it. This worked quite. well. And my feeder still looks much better than the red plastic ones.

This year is my first successful attempt at attracting hummingbirds. We live in the south so around mid march I hung out my first feeder. I hung it beneath a dogwood that was just beginning to flower. I also hung hanging baskets of red impatients in the same area. Than I anxiously awaited the arrival of our first hummer.

     Within a week a ruby throated hummer arrived. Quite thin after his long arrival he was quite happy to have found a feeder. Within the next few weeks a female arrived. So did several other very thin males. Ruby (as we call him) wasn't to thrilled and ran the others off.

     We have now planted more flowers that attract hummers such as trumpet vine, red morning glory, bee balm and red lantana. And we also plan on hanging up more feeders so the hummers won't have to compete.

       The hummingbirds are so interesting to watch. They are truly a welcome addition to our garden.