One more thing.......

Try observing your yard and feeder the first thing in the morning and the last hour of the day as this is when the Hummingbird's may be "sneaking" into your yard and enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Be patient and they will reward your efforts with Big Smiles as you watch them dart around your yard !

Lee

Thank you so much Lee for your response. I look foward to having them in my own backyard since I grew up with them in my mothers in upstate N.Y. where they come in abundance. Thank you again for giving my daughter and I hope that they will bless are garden as well.

Floridagirls12..

I'm in East Orlando, near UCF. There aren't many other gardeners in my neighborhood and when I moved in a bit over 9 years ago there were no hummingbirds at all. I put up feeders and started planting everything I thought they might like. By the second year I would see one occasionally in early March as they were migrating through. It wasn't until last year - after 8 years! - that I regularly saw one throughout the summer. This year my yard is full of them all the time. But they are still ignoring the feeders!! I keep two up and change the juice every two or three days but I have never see them at the feeder. Never!

As Lee said, the pentas and firebush are very high on their list of favorite plants. They also love coral vine, Mexican Sage Bush, any blue salvia (Black & Blue, Mystic Spires and Indigo Spires), and white shrimp plant. Oh yeah, the red and purple firespikes too.

If you haven't been to Biosphere Nursery in Winter Garden you should go! They specialize in Florida native plants and can recommend several plants to attract butterflies and hummers. They are having a special event on Sunday July 8th at 10am that will be attended by several Florida Forum GardenWebbers. Mostly talking about butterfly plants but we'll be talking hummingbirds too, I'm sure!

Kate

You've received some very good advice from local experts, Floridagirls12. I did very much what Kate did, except I saw one on a plant right outside my door early one morning and then I knew they were around. I started planting more plants and I got more hummers. Now I have them pretty much from the beginning of March to the beginning of October.

They are a pleasure. Do come to Biosphere on July 8 to meet a bunch of folks, in addition to getting to know one of the best hummingbird and butterfly nurseries in the area.

Here is a link that might be useful: Biosphere

Hi: I moved to SW Orlando in 1995. I have been planting Hummingbird attracting plants since then. We never saw any for years.I saw my first Hummingbird this week July 4 at 1:30 visiting a Firebush shrub. I think it was a black chinned hummer.
I'm now glued to my deck to see if it comes back. Is this a good enough reason to call in to work "sick"?

:)
Ruth

Hi Ruth !

Not sure how secure your job is so maybe watching for hummingbirds should remain a weekend hobby. LOL

If you want some more LOCAL advice on tips and tricks to help attract hummingbirds to your yard, join the crowd tomorrow July 8th at Biosphere.
They are right off of toll road 429 and the information that is shared is well worth the dollar or two it cost to get there !
BIOSPHERE Nursery
14908 Tilden Road
Winter Garden, FL 34787
TEL: 407-656-8277

Enjoy your hummingbirds !
Lee

Here is a link that might be useful: Biosphere Nursery

Hi All: We saw another Hummingbird this morning at 10:30 back at the firebush. I wish I had a place to put more plants. The Firebush seems to have finally done the trick.

We had honeysuckle for 12 years with no hummingbirds we had to remove it for new fencing last fall. This is my first summer with firebush.

Job is pretty secure... I work for our family business, but still don't think the birds are a good excuse.

Take care

RUTH

Ruth, I would bet you saw a female ruby-throat. They are pretty much all that we see in Central Florida at this time of year. I think two of the best native plants for hummingbirds are the Firebush and the Coral Honeysuckle.
Was yours the Coral?

Tom: we had both coral & yellow honeysuckle.
Two hummers came back for a visit last night around 8.

I have 4 more firebush in the front of my house and I'm going to swap themt out with some bird of paradise in the back yard where we can see them from the deck.
We also have red Hibiscus,
shrimp plants, butterfly bush, red porter weed, jatropha (sp?)and red powder puff.

Off to read paper/have coffee/and play in the dirt.

Happy Sunday.
RUTH

floridagirls12, the red native tropical sage Salvia coccinea get action in my yard.
I live in Oviedo north of UCF.

My Cafe con Leche (Acanthaceae) bloomed in early summer in SoFla and really attracted the hummers.
Another name for this bush is Jamaican "Croton", though it is no relation.
Also my Tithonias saw many hummers and butterflies...

I also live in Oviedo, FL near UCF. I am wondering if there are any additional suggestions in addition to the above. I have had a feeder as well as bushes for several months, but have not seen any hummingbirds quite yet. Thoughts?

Thought1 In pre-climatechange era they would be migrating /migrated now.
(Perhaps still holds true generally, but more variability has been observed.)

Thought2 Yesterday's hurricane here invalidated for now all thoughts
by humans and by the birds themselves.

By the way, one was here the previous day.

What time of the day do you see them? I live at Live Oak reserve in Oviedo.

All times (not dark). Truly nonconforming to anyone's norm.

They are still around, Angelo. The most likely time to see them is at dawn and dusk. They need to eat before nightfall and they are very hungry at first light. You should be pretty close to Lucas nursery. Ask them and they will be able to advise you on hummer plants. Right now the red firespikes are excellent. I find the large red pentas very good also. The firespikes get big. The pentas not so much.

There are many good hummer plants. A good idea is to put the feeder where you can see it from inside the house and put some flowers that they like near or around the feeder.