Art, I wish I were closer. I grow Salvia in pots for my hummers here in San Antonio. Good luck with your group.
Rob

Rob:
1)It would be great to see what Salvias you grow if
you would be kind enough to send me a list.

2)When we get a newsletter together would you be interested?

3) I would like to know what other plants you use for attracting your hummers.

Thank You
Art

Art,

Last year I had Pink Autumn Sage, Red Autumn Sage, Lipstick Salvia, Black and Blue Salvia. All have barely survived the winter, and look weak. They also survived the hellish heat of last summer, then exploced in blooms again during the fall. In pots, they grow through the balcony railing, bloom all summer and are a visual magnet to my hummers.

Yes, I would be interested in getting a newsletter from your group.

I also had Mexican Fire plant and Cuphea with aphid problems. Lost that battle. But the big winner with my hummers was Coral Honeysuckle. Also in a pot. It's rugged and is still putting out new leaves in spite of the cold.

I am a bit north of you guys, but wish I could come. Hummers in my garden have a broad palate including Passion flowers (caerulea and 'Lavendar Lady'), butterfly bush, lantana, Verbena bonariensis, Cosmos sulphureous 'Cosmic Orange', red Pentas, Tithonia rotundifolia 'Torch Flower', Monarda fistulosa, Hibiscus coccineus 'Texas Star', white Cypress vine, Tropical milkweed, and Lonicera flava honeysuckle.

My garden is situated between two large Austrian pines, and the feeder hangs from a lathe that extends from my porch.

The hummers are so territorial and one domineering male sits in the honeysuckle vine, or in the pine trees, guarding the feeder and the flowers. So funny. But, I am going to hand another feeder this year to see if that helps.

Susan

Last summer was my first year to actually try developing a garden to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. My big winners were Black and Blue and Red Lady in the salvia department.

This year I'm also trying the annual red cypress vine planted on a trellis behind the Black and Blue and putting out lots of old fashioned red pentas, both in ground and in pots. The pentas are new plants for me this season. I picked some up on close out at our local nursery and have overwintered them in the greenhouse. Cuttings root easily, so it's easy to make a lot of plants from a mother plant. What attracted me to this plant was the fact that the hummingbirds would come down and feed from these plants at the nursery, with people standing right there beside the plants. I figured that was one strong draw and I needed to try them. When I got them home, the butterflies loved them, too, so they do double duty. :-)

The problem I have is the little resident bully guarding everything. I hung feeders in different places with some distance between them last summer and that did help pull attention away from the plants so other little beauties had a shot at getting to the plants. Can hardly wait for spring and be able to enjoy the little flying jewels once again.

Good luck with your project.

Mary