Why do you want to know? Are you looking for plants to control erosion on a shady slope? If so, look at what plants native to your area provide this ecological service. Most of the small erosion-control plants I know grow best in part or full sun. For instance, California poppies have taproots -- they grow like weeds at the end of the rainy season and then can bloom and set seed with no additional water. (Many weeds also have taproots.) Coastal plants have very extensive roots, much larger than the part above ground, because they need to anchor themselves in windy environments and loose, sandy soils. Grasses have amazingly extensive root systems. Many other California and Mediterranean natives have extensive roots or taproots, but that's because they range far and wide to seek and tap into water to survive dry summers.

I love the dark centers and dark stems on the Doppelganger. It really sets off the pretty pink petals. Last year it didn't 'doppel' and it was really short. I thought I had been sold some short variety by mistake. I am so happy with them this year. Yes, isn't that Easter Lily something special? I didn't know they would or could cross with Asiatic lilies. A View from the Patio area of part of the Shade Garden Love this Pink Lily Looking back through shrubberies to another garden area<. i planted every flower bush and tree you see.> Rosa, Lavender Lace (miniature rose) and blue Bachelor Buttons More later

"How do you keep the woodlands in the back of some of those pictures from invading?" I work very, very hard to keep invasive plants out of my yard and remove them when they try to take hold of my garden, including unwanted trees, shrubs, vines and tree seedlings. It's my worst nightmare. I really get tired of it, that is for sure. Although there are no vast, heavily wooded forests here, there are still the plants that grow in the woods that move onto the property and into the immediate yard. It is a continuous battle. There are no heavy woodlands in the background. There are wooded areas along creeks. There is one small wooded area behind my back yard., I call "the Little Wood", and another slightly bigger wooded area further up the hill on my property, which I call :"The Big Wood", but no woodlands. All the vegetation and trees you see in my photos are what I grew with only a few exceptions. I live in the middle of the prairie. Here is a picture I took of the land on the southside of my property, along my driveway just so I could show people what this place was like when I bought it, minus the trees. The white flowering Spirea, Jonquils and green grass along the fence is on my side along the driveway. The trees in the distance are mostly junipers, elms, and hackberry growing along a dry creek. I don't believe any of those trees are native. They have become naturalized. The creek is dry most of the year but runs with runoff water after heavy rains. Farmers cannot plow there, so they leave them for shelter for their cattle. Now, I turned 180 degrees around and took this picture of my front yard: All the land around me looks like the the above land or with even fewer trees and underbrush. Mostly prairie grasslands on rolling hills. Now, if you drive 30 or so miles northeast and southeast of here, you will start getting into the woodland areas, and far eastern Oklahoma there are pine woods and river birch, much like the rest of the South, but not here. The worst thing I have to deal with is Bermuda grass and prairie weeds that blow into the yard, wash down the hill into the yard, or are carried into the yard by animals (via stickery seeds) or through animal and bird poop. Oh, they are awful!!! We get Poison Ivy in the yard and it has to be sprayed - I am terribly allergic. Puts me in serious jeopardy. We have Tall Ragweed that grows up to 18 ft tall. and the regular short ragweed There are sweetbriars, and all kinds of sticky, thorny, seedy vines. There are Cowpeas (Creeping Vetch), Wild Cicily, Buffalo Burrs, Stinging (Spurge) Nettles, Horse Nettle, Nightshade, Poisonous Sumac, Chickweed (from h*ll), Lamb'c Quarters, Virginia creeper (invasive here), Curly Dock, Poisonous Hemlock, Wild Cucumber, Wild Onions, Wild Carrots, Shepherd's Purse (oh so awful this year), and many, many more intrusive, weedy, prairie-type plants, as well as the woodland-type plants. I work hard hoeing, chopping and cultivating all the weeds and weedy grasses out of my garden. I have to battle with weeds and wild grasses and vines all the time. Oh, I hate Johnson grass, Nutgrass, Bermuda grass, and all the other weedy grasses that plague any garden and those "sticktight" vines that grow rampant in trees, bushes and everywhere if they get started. Gads. So, my answer is simply this: I work my arse off. ~Annie

Yes, it is good to have this sort of interest, but perhaps a little less squabbling would have been good--I say, a bit sheepishly. The only other Trey I ever heard of was also a guy, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The question remains, is BN a guy? I don't know of any non-female Kristins, and I am, indeed a gal. Isn't it nice we got all of that straightened out? I had a feeling there was more to your garden than you originally described, and from the beginning I suspected that's why you were so puzzled by the birds' behavior. At an earlier stage in the discussion I was frustrated that appropriate conversations were being missed in favor of the Trey's garden doesn't have much to offer hypothesis. I, too, am glad to see the discussion turn to analysis of behavior. A number of good thoughts have been expressed already. I figured your "other hummer plants" referred to significant additional plants, but even I was surprised by how much your garden has to offer. It also sounds like there are similarities between our gardens and where they are situated. The garden I speak of is actually at my mother's house in suburban Pittsburgh. Like yours, it's an old suburb, with lots of woods and streams nearby. Also, except for the trumpet vine, lilies, and daylilies, all of the hummer plantings are new this year--Agastache, Monarda, Aquilegia canadensis, Lobelia cardinalis, Salvia coccinea, Petunias, Verbenas (both annual and perennial), snapdragons, impatiens, and cardinal climber in a pot. Of these, only the Aquilegia, Salvia, petunias, verbenas, and Agastache are currently blooming. I wonder if Jenny's suggestion about patience may be in order for us. Perhaps simple habit is the key here, and it will take time for the hummers to get used to the fact that there are good, natural food sources in our gardens. Still, I think I may be onto something when I say that feeders are easy. Once the hummers have figured them out, they are like fast food. I hate to use that analogy, but I think it's apt. Feeders allow them to come in, feed, and get out quickly, with very little expenditure of energy. Feeders don't, however, provide the traces of extra nutrition that may be present in flower nectar. That is why it disturbed and surprised me last year when the hummers so readily switched from the trumpet vines to my feeders. It was nice having them at the feeders because it made them easier to see, but I couldn't help but worry if I were doing them a disservice, like opening a McDonald's. To combat this, I resolved to plant more flowers this year, and have done so. So far, I'm seeing the same thing as you--feeder preference over flowers. Interesting that when I took both feeders in for cleaning, and had them inside for an hour, I first saw the female at the columbine. Let me know if you decide to experiment with bringing your feeders inside. Are your feeders situated in your garden in plain view of the flowers? I couldn't quite figure that out from your description of you and your neighbors' yards. There also seems to be some difference in opinion about what we can expect from young birds and their behavior. On the one hand, with no feeder experience, you'd think they would be more likely to use natural sources. My experience, though, was that they, too, immediately abandoned the trumpet vine for feeders. I posted the picture of my feeder, because I wonder if the design is easier for them to acclimate to than some of the other types. I modelled one of them after a cardinal climber flower, and the other after a Salvia. Perhaps they're similar enough to flowers that it's simple for even young birds to catch on. Who knows. Maybe I'm a "victim" of my own feeder making skills. That said, it's awfully hard to arrive at conclusions about why these little birds do what they do. We could run years of carefully controlled scientific studies and we'd no doubt learn something, but still wouldn't be able to explain some of their behavior with certainty. I believe they are also capable of quirky, individual behaviors that are hard to analyze.