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Hummingbird Garden

Hummingbird Garden Still Going Strong...

18 years ago

It has been an unusually warm September and October in the Northeast, and my hummingbird plants are still going gangbusters. This is the first year planting pineapple sage, and I have to say that this looks like the ultimate hummingbird flower, with hummer perfect color, shape, and nectar content. My Turks Cap and Agastache are also at peak bloom at the moment. It is a shame that all of my ruby throats have left my area weeks ago...

Pineapple Sage

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Turks Cap

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Agastache

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Comments (8)

nalono
18 years ago
SWCT

Those are beautiful pictures. Pineapple sage is a stunner, too bad that it blooms so late. Looks like a lot of flowers for the butterflies and bees to enjoy never the less.

jp
rosewomann
18 years ago
Which Agastache is that? Looks a lot like a couple of mine, so I'm curious!

Rose
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Lovely! We've had some pretty good frosts/freezes here too and still I have Calendula officinalis nana 'Citrus Cocktail' and the standards (a ton!) , Nigella, Snapdragon, Venidium 'Jaffa Ice', Larkspur, Viola and Sweet Alyssum and late to come in Rudbeckia hirta. Funny thing though is that two years now in a row all of the re-seeding Blue Shrimp plants have been waiting until mid to late fall to start sprouting and they get to a nice rosette and then freeze out before they can begin blooming!! Guess I'll have to wintersow them to get they going in spring from now on....this one just doesn't make any since to me at all!! Thanks for sharing the beautiful pics :) Vera
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Comments (15)
I buy lots of my own root roses as bands (small roses) from Heirloom roses mail order. They are TINY when you get them but for me they grow quickly. I just plant them in place and they grow into lovely rose shrubs in no time. I just looked and I don't see COUNTRY LIFE listed on their website this year. The yellow in that picture is WELL BEING. The pink, STAR OF THE NILE. I got them both from Heirloom. As far as heights, I don't buy anything that list over 6 feet and rarely that tall. But its easy to keep them shorter, just prune heavily in the spring (which I do) and then again after the first flush. Here is a link that might be useful: Heirloom roses
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Comments (3)
I've been eying those salmon poppies in others' gardens around here, and so I am not surprised to see them looking so good with iris in your garden. Lenora Pearl is looking very nice. I find that my iris are more vibrant in the years that it doesn't get above 80 F until July 4. (My iris is getting done with blooming about then, June is pretty much iris time here.) In the hot dry years the blooms don't last long, and they aren't as bright.
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Comments (4)
Hey Harry, I did send you an email - thank you! I wanted to update this post again - we have had a couple of light frosts, but nothing serious. My BJBBs are still alive and producing a bit - I have dried beans to pick still. And my Hilda Romanos are still popping out beans. Not many, but a few. And there's a few more Rocdor wax beans and some Rattlesnakes growing. I'll harvest tonight for a small veggie course. I have an eggplant and a couple of tomato plants still trying to produce. The eggplants will get harvested this week - the Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes appear to be willing to grow through the winter! Cindy
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swct
Original Author
18 years ago
Rose -

The Agastache in the photo is called 'Ava'. I purchased this Agastache online from High Country Gardens, and it is a standout! It is easily 2x as large as A. Cana or A. 'Desert Sunrise', which I also purchased this year from HCG.
birdgardner
18 years ago
My Ava is also doing well, but it has no new growth at the base the way Shades of Orange and Desert Sunrise are doing, so I'm wondering about its getting through the winter. Got to take some cuttings!

How old is your Turks Cap? I started some from seed and they are still only a foot tall - never bloomed. Do you have yours in full sun? Fertilize a lot?

Lisa
rosewomann
18 years ago
Do you mean the flowers are larger or the spike is longer or the whole plant is larger? It's a beauty, colorwise it appears a bit more intense than my After Eight or Tutti Frutti. My most intense colors were on Red Fortune which I loved but lost last winter. Better to have loved & lost than never to have loved at all...
OK , I'm getting a bit corny, but it is after midnight & We're talking about one of my favorite species! I love Salvias, Agastaches & Penstemons. Can't get enough of any of them & love the crosses on the Agastaches, makes you want to hold onto all your seeds- just in case. I really like A. Cana "Heather Queen" & all the variations of rupestris I have growing . I love barberi & have cana growing nearby, maybe I'll see Ava out there one of these days. Do post more pictures so we can tell why you like it so much. I find that there is so much variation out there when Agastache cultivars are sold. Salvias & Penstemons are much more of a sure thing.
I was thinking of starting a thread about which ones people like more than others. I like A. Pink Panther better than Tutti Frutti... cause the colors are prettier, more coral mixed in with the raspberry pink.
Your turn!

Rose
wardw
18 years ago
Is Turk's Cap hardy for you in CT? I thought we were to cold up here for that plant. I came really close to picking up Ava this spring. I'd kick myself but I'm getting older now and it may no longer be a good idea. And considering my luck with agastaches maybe I should do the plant a favor and not buy it. Already Just Peachy has bit the dust this year, Tutti Frutti probably will, but maybe Desert Sunrise will hang on. Great photos!
swct
Original Author
18 years ago
Wardw -

Turks Cap (Malvaviscus) is not hardy in CT. Each fall, I trim the plant you see in the photo down to about 6 inches, dig it up (trimming the roots as well), and place it in a pot indoors near a sunny window. This plant is incredibly tough and overwinters without any problem indoors. I replant outdoors in May, and by Autumn this plant is as tall as many of my butterfly bushes. Hummers are crazy about Turks Cap, as it is a native source of nectar for them down south.
penny1947
18 years ago
Ward,
Thanks for your input on Turk's Cap. I have always wanted to get one but didn't know how it would do indoors in the winter. I may just consider one for next year if I can find a place for it (I am really running out of growing space and some things will definitely have to be eliminated next year.

Penny

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