Panhandle Plantings-A new column by Master Gardener Val Ford
August is International Hummingbird Month
The fascination with hummingbirds is virtually universal. We’re all familiar with their attraction to the color red, the recipe for homemade feeder nectar (one part white, granulated sugar to four parts water, boiled to dissolve) and the chatter of birds fighting over feeder territory. So instead of an article per se, what follows are bits of intriguing information for the gardener and for those who simply love these little gems of the garden.
Hummingbird Facts
• 338 known species are found only in the Americas – 16 in the United States, three in Florida (Black-chinned, Rufous and Ruby-Throated)
• General arrival date in Florida: mid-March /departure date: late October
• Nesting in Florida begins in April; nests are frequently built over water
• Heart rate: 1,260 beats per minute
• Wing movements - 50 to 200 beats per second
• Soaring is the only flying maneuver impossible for a hummingbird
• Forked, grooved tongues can lick at a rate of 13 times per second
• Stomach holds approximately .18 ounces (5 grams) of nectar at a time
• Must feed every ten to15 minutes from dawn to dusk, with the most intense feeding time immediately before dark
• Heart rate and body temperature drop into a state of "hibernation" at night to conserve energy
• Hummingbirds feed by sight on regularly followed routes called "traplines"
Hummingbird Gardens
Each of the approximately 150 plants specialized to attract hummingbirds as primary pollinators share the following characteristics:
(1) long, tube-shaped flowers
(2) no platform on which to land (bees need somewhere to land)
(3) red color (bees have difficulty seeing red)
(4) no scent (bees are attracted by scent, birds by vision)
(5) a long bloom period during daylight hours
(6) flowers spaced wide apart to accommodate a hummingbirds wings
When choosing flowers for a hummingbird garden, please remember that cultivated hybrids such as double blooms, while often prettier than a wild strain, make much less nectar. Anyone interested in obtaining a list of hummingbird plants (trees, shrubs, vines, perennials and annuals) adapted to Northwest Florida, can log on to the Web at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu or request a copy of the pamphlet "Florida’s Hummingbirds" from your local Extension Office.
Finally, where would a celebration of this tiny creature be without a legend by which to remember it? A Puerto Rican legend tells the Romeo and Juliet-type story of a young couple whose families disapprove of their love. Despite the families’ attempts to keep them apart, the young people escape their problems by becoming a hummingbird and a red flower – thus coupled forever in time – and in our gardens. What better way to imagine the arrival of these court jesters into our lives each year.
Val Ford is a Holmes County Master Gardener. If you have a gardening question or problem, contact your county Extension Office, or Val at vford@digitalexp.com
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