I have seen more and more hummingbirds lately, still around the bee balm and especially the crape myrtle which is in full bloom right now. Earlier this spring, I had been using the red premixed nectar and they didn’t seem to like it much. I switched to making plain sugar water and this has attracted many more hummingbirds to my feeders. This one was guarding a small feeder in the Secret Garden. I was sitting on the bench just a few feet away.
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At a feeder in the Secret Garden
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This one didn’t want to share and kept chasing away
other hummingbirds from this feeder in the Secret Garden.
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They are so territorial, it’s crazy. These tiny little birds and one will not allow any others around the feeders. Our bee balm, where the hummingbird feeder is located, died out earlier in the month. Probably due to heat stress, lack of water and it gets powdery mildew every year. I probably just need to yank it and put some more that are more resisitant.
Jim, I know, so small and so vicious when defending their spot at one of these feeders!
My bee balm is still doing pretty good, what wasn’t beaten down by the heavy rains we had the other day during a storm. Mine has a little powdery mildew, but not anywhere near what it usually has. I’ve been using that Serenade Garden disease control spray weekly and it has made a huge difference this year.
I planted some pink dwarf bee balm plugs earlier this summer, hopefully they will be more mildew resistant.