Hummingbird Magic

by incahootswithmuddyboots
August 23, 2019
23 comments
In my Garden, Nature, Out and About, Photography, Uncategorized, Up Close & Personal ...

Every time I think of pulling out this bright pink vetch
one of my hummingbird friends comes along
to let me know how much they love this beautiful invasive weed.
🙂 

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My passions in life are vegetarian cooking, gardening, photography, writing, good books, traveling and nature. Thanks for stopping by, Sabine

23 thoughts on “Hummingbird Magic”

  4. Missy says:

    When I was growing up there was a field of vetch growing next to our house. We’d play for hours in it! There are so many “weeds” that are gorgeous and attract wildlife. You, my friend are genius at catching photos at just the right time. Stunning!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Mellow Curmudgeon says:

    The splendidly photographed hummers made the right call.

    Maybe the pink vetch is like the much-maligned dandelion: a beautiful flower considered a “weed” by those who look down on things that any klutz can grow.

    Like

    • incahootswithmuddyboots says:

      There are quite a few dandelions in my garden as well! Bordering on a forest makes it impossible to keep all the weeds at bay unless one resorts to spraying chemicals. I appreciate these “weeds” providing food for critters of all kinds and helping to keep the soil healthy. I also believe it helps to keep a healthy balance as I rarely have any destructive insect infestations! The only plant I have no mercy for is the blackberry! 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  6. lindasschaub says:

    No! Keep it – look at that little bird go. I swear I can hear its wings whirring from here. Our hummers will leave in September for a warmer climate. You were lucky to get such close-up shots Sabine.

    Liked by 1 person

    • incahootswithmuddyboots says:

      Linda, I actually saves some of the seed pods for a friend! Once the vetch grows, it’s nearly impossible to eradicate from the garden. It just popped up years ago and I try to keep it in check. It does look beautiful and the bees and butterflies love visiting the blooms as well. Some of our hummers stay during the winter. I don’t get any then because I don’t put out feeders. Some of our neighbors do. I should check for some winter flowering plants!

      Liked by 1 person

      • lindasschaub says:

        Sabine, it is a nice looking invasive flower though. When we first moved here in 1966, the neighbor next door planted Lily of the Valley and Snow in the Mountain along the fence line. She died in the 80s and the Lily of the Valley are no longer invasive, but the Snow in the Mountain is out of control, all these years later. I just leave them now – no use trying to pull them out as I did years ago. At the Park this morning, I noticed the milkweeds had pods, a lot of them, and a friend of mine had milkweed in her yard and sent me some of the seeds, but I never got any milkweed plants from them. But there are pods galore – it people were smart, they would get them and harvest the seeds. All that milkweed in the Park, and I’ve not seen a single Monarch. I saw some beautiful flowers, just huge and look like poppies, but not the right color – they are just gorgeous. I walk by the house, but no one is home when I pass to ask the name of the flowers. I wonder what Winter flowers you could use? Someone in the next block puts out Winter pansies in March and they thrive but I think they only come in yellows or purples, but I think you favor perennials don’t you?

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      • incahootswithmuddyboots says:

        Linda, if you want to plant some of those milkweed seeds, they have to be stratified first. That is done by keeping them in the freezer for a certain number of hours. I’m sure there is information online. I have several kinds of milkweed and the butterflies, bees and hummers love it. But I’ve never seen a monarch butterfly here. I might check at the local nursery for some winter-blooming plants. Surprisingly, pansies grow year round here. I have a few left that were planted 14 years ago!

        Liked by 1 person

      • lindasschaub says:

        OK, I will check Sabine – perhaps Carol didn’t do that and that’s why they did not bloom, but she said she had them growing all over the yard and she lives in New York and near the snow belt. I didn’t realize that pansies were perennials – that is interesting. These are very hardy.

        Liked by 1 person

      • lindasschaub says:

        See I learned something and no, you don’t want our Winters and the Old Farmer’s Almanac came out today and the predictions for the Midwest, most specifically for our state. They were on the radio today and said we could expect Spring to linger into April (that’s happened the past two years – I guess that and the excessive heat is the norm now – ugh).

        Liked by 1 person

      • lindasschaub says:

        Thanks Sabine – I hope it is not that bad as they say. Although they predicted our Spring and Summer accurately – we did have all that heat and torrential rain, flooding they predicted for Spring. You were lucky – the one snowfall and cleared away within a day or so as I recall.

        Liked by 1 person

      • lindasschaub says:

        I could take your weather Sabine. A friend of mine sent me a message that she is not sure she can take the brutal NY Winters much longer and said “maybe I’ll move to Oregon, it’s nice there. ” So I told her about your neck of the woods – she loves gardening so she would like to be able to garden more months out of the year. Our prediction looks abysmal: 7 major snowstorms, one or two polar vortex events, Winter lingering way into Spring and a hot Summer – at least we aren’t getting alot of rain next Spring.
        https://wwjnewsradio.radio.com/articles/news/old-farmers-almanac-predicts-wild-winter-metro-detroit

        Liked by 1 person

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