I live on a fairly busy thoroughfare that also represents one of the borders between the city and the neighboring suburbs and often used by ambulances, etc., because it is wide and straight. However my little one found my garden oasis up here on my 18th floor balcony last August while on her way back down south, where she nectared on a reblooming "Red Prince" weigela and a blooming goldflame honeysuckle that I have here. She ultimately returned here on June 5 this year and was greeted with a brand new feeder and quite a smorasbord of flowering plants! She had been coming about every 20 - 40 minutes like a clock, all day, every day since then, until the past week or so where her appearances have been a bit more sporadic. I'm thinking she might be raising young somewhere, although I have seen the yellow jackets out bothering her when she does come. Last year she left sometime mid-August so I'm hoping she'll at least stick around until then before heading back.

Female rubythroat. It would be very rare to have any other kind of hummer in the Mid-Atlantic, although they do show up in very low numbers with some regularity. Female rubythroats lack the male's bright red throat.

Jean, Coral Fantasy is my favorite. I loved that one, but seem to have lost it. I say that because several that I thought had died have come back...but that one probably won't. I really like it and your plant seems to do very well, kay

Here's a fairly large Double Knock Out in the front yard--in the divider between my property and the neighbor's. Haven't had time to anything with it yet this year, so its looking a bit wild and woolley--and maybe lop-sided. I'll try to get some pruning done before the season is over. : ) Light blue irises came with the property when I bought my house thirty something years ago--don't know their name, but they bloom forever (for an iris). Another iris--name unknown. Sure is lovely. Here's a terrific fully packed white peony called Festiva Maxima--love that blood-red like marking in the middle of the blooms. I read somewhere once that this old classic is a good choice for more southerly gardeners, but I don't remember why. I have 4 of them. BIG blooms. Its getting so exciting now that things are nearly ready to bloom--can't believe the buds all over the yard--have never seen so many. Oddly, however, my hybrid teas are not taking over the show like they usually do. I thought with the mild winter we had, they would do terrifically well, but it seems the shrubs and floribundas are the ones doing best. But maybe that will all change in the next few weeks. This is about 3 weeks early for my roses--any of them--to be blooming. Kate