Here in Maryland, the deer don't eat honeysuckle, but they DO eat Weigelia. I spray them with repellant and that helps somewhat, but it's still a problem. Salvia is listed as deer resistant, so is the annual, Cleome. Hummingbirds like my Trumpet Vine, which is a huge climber with impressive yellow or orange/red flowers. The biggest problem I have with it is re-seeding. I have to be sure to snap off ALL the seed pods. Until I learned that, I had baby plants everywhere - and they're hard to dig out. Here is a link that might be useful: You can cross check the deer resistant plants on this list for hummingbirds

Renee - I LOVE Bridalwreath spirea and have three of them. I generally like things that have big, abundant displays of flowers - like the wisteria... Thyme - Yes, the wisteria was trained as a tree and I'm currently training a young Japanese wisteria to be a tree. The Chinese one has a trunk that splits in two just above the graft union so there are two poles that supported it when it was young. The Japanese one just has one pole. During the growing season, pruning is sometimes a daily task! And you have to be vigilant about root suckers - they need to be removed as soon as they appear. Also all seed pods are removed in late fall after the leaves drop and you can see the seedpods. I did a germination test one year and about 25% of the seeds germinated, so I remove the pods to prevent seedlings appearing. There are very detailed 'rules' for pruning wisteria - but I ignore them! What works for me is that everytime it puts out long whippy new growth, I cut it back to where I want the tree to grow - usually cut it back to 6-12" from the point of origin. One thing I have learned is that when I do that, about 10-14 days later, it produces a flower at that location! So the Chinese wisteria blooms all summer! Not profusely but it's nice to have it in bloom. It took about 5 years for it to produce its first big spring display but it did the summer bloom after pruning from the second year in the ground, so I knew it would eventually do a big bloom - May frosts sometimes prevents a spring bloom. We have long arm pruners to make it easy to prune the top of the tree. We'll likely keep it to the size it is now. This picture shows both wisteria trees. The Japanese one is what is on the pole at the near end of the bed. This is a pichure from a couple of years ago that shows the summer bloom - this is July 18 2007:

My Red Bed disappointed last year, partly due to drought and partly my own doing. Already this year, I've had the splendor of 'Blackout' asiatic lilies. They kind of bloomed alone, but I can see them from the kitchen window and they are stunners. There were far fewer poppies this year; I'll try to remedy that in the fall. Daylilies are forming scapes: Kent's Favorite II, Little Business and Sammy Russell. I've planted several Castor Bean seedlings and have four more to place. Pride of Barbados has sprouts from the roots on two of the seedlings I planted last year, I'm excited about that. I have seedling red Porterweeds growing on to put out there for butterfly nectaring. When I look out the window, I see what it is going to be rather than the rather skimpy patch it is now. You will love 'Empress of India' nasturtiums -- at least, I do. They have dark foliage and the blossoms are scarlet. Mine are not in the Red Bed, they'll be leaving soon when the weather gets really hot here. Nell

Party Music - Thanks so much for the info on Honeysuckle, it caused me to do a little research which I thought I would post here >>>>>> all honeysuckles aren't the same invasive pest as the Japanese honeysuckle. There are some wonderful natives. Lonicera sempervirens is native, not invasive and very beneficial, offering nectar to hummingbirds and berries to other birds. Lonicera sempervirens 'Blanche Sandman' blooms on and off from mid April to hard frost in a zone 7 garden. It's not fragrant, but it's beautiful. http://www.gardenvines.com/catalog/l...man-p-112.html American native Lonicera sempervirens 'John Clayton', the hummers don't seem as attracted to the yellow color. http://www.gardenvines.com/catalog/l...b0ae7917319da1 Here's some other native honeysuckles. http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/l/lonsem/lonsem1.html Lonicera sempervirens 'Alabama Crimson' http://www.gardenvines.com/catalog/l...b0ae7917319da1 Lonicera sempervirens 'Major Wheeler' http://www.gardenvines.com/catalog/l...b0ae7917319da1 Lonicera sempervirens 'Magnifica' http://www.gardenvines.com/catalog/l...b0ae7917319da1 Lonicera heckrottii 'Gold Flame' aka Goldflame honeysuckle is a cross between a native Lonicera sempervirens and a non-native with the misleading name of Lonicera americana. It's not a purebred native but it's not invasive and is fragrant. The fragrance can be variable on this one so purchase in bloom if fragrance is important to you. http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/l/lonhec/lonhec1.html The variety I just bought is "Major Wheeler" so I should be fine! Thanks again Party Music!!