Put nectar feeders away, and still attract hummingbirds

Yippee!! My experiment is working quite well. No longer do I have to deal with messy, sticky nectar feeders for hummingbirds on a regular basis. But I still have lots of hummingbirds dropping by and/or living in nearby vegetation.

Instead of regularly handling messy nectar feeders, I planted large masses of colorful, native flowers. Their nectar is what hummingbirds eat naturally, attracted by the brightly-colored flowers. In my yard, I use lantana, Turks cap and flame acanthus. But you could use any native

Texas flower. Hummingbirds will love you for it, and visit often. And I’m able to put my nectar feeders away.

I’ll only use my feeders twice a year – when hummingbirds arrive and when they “pork up” to leave (late September).

You can put away your nectar feeders too. But please forego the planting until late winter or early spring, when plants are starting to grow. My advice to anyone wanting to plant in our summer is to throw the plants you buy directly into the trash, saving one step.  :)

Move along, Mr. Wasp       Wasps (primarily “paper wasps”) tend to build nests in the worst places.  If they’re prone to building nests on the underside of your roof eaves or the platform of your birdfeeder, try rubbing some bar soap there first. The soap prevents them from attaching the wasp nest.   (I’m told foil works too, but you may not like how it looks)

  

Owen Yost, in addition to blogging, is a Landscape Architect emeritus from here, who‘s worked in north Texas for over 30 years.  He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Society of Landscape Architects, the National BirdFeeding Society, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. He was honored with a Lifetime Achievement award by the Native Plant Society of Texas. His Denton design office is at northwestern68@yahoo.com