I am receiving lots of "cannot send to this email address" so please make sure you either forward an address where you can be reached or update your settings in GW. Unfortunately, I don't have time to track individuals down to make sure you are receiving the messages I'm sending. :) Julie, there seems to be a problem with GW and email addresses when you get the folloow-up replies emailed to you. When you hit 'reply' it should show the GW email addy, but often it is also showing the member name behind the address, and then that causes the email to show as 'rejected'. I know you will get this reply, so if you try and then 'reply' to that email, please note what is in the TO line before hitting send. If you then delete off 'the extra' stuff behind the email addy, it should send just fine. Clear as mud? I'm just being a busy body here and not wanting to take you up on your kind offer. I've reported the situation to GW via the Contact GW link. chemocurl...aka Sue

When photographing hummingbirds, I've found that the click of the camera, and/or the flash can attract them, particularly the dominant hummingbird at that specific feeder. My theory is that because he associates the flash with the the appearance of other birds at the feeder, he learns to show up to defend it when there's a flash. Since he's there, he takes a drink before leaving. Because I've mainly observed this at Madera Canyon in the spring, it was pretty easy to figure this out because it was generally the same species bird that showed up after a 'boredom' flash I would flash if I had not had any birds for a while. Sometimes, the feeder would be primarily 'owned' by a broadbill, at other times/locations/years it might be a magnificent. Once accustomed to the flash, the birds aren't usually startled even though my flashes are quite close. (1 or 2 feet from feeder.) A high pitched whistle might produce a similar territorial response. I'd be tempted to try a dog whistle and see if they react quite well to that. Visit my link to www.gregscott.com to see my very high resolution hummingbird photos. They're not all high resolution, but most of the recent ones (taken in the spring) are quite high in resolution. Here is a link that might be useful: See my high resolution photos here.

I am sure I have posted this too many times, but I had great success with rhododendrons by scraping the bottom of branches near the ground, pegging them down and covering the scraped part with soil, leaving the end leaves showing. A year later, the new plant could be severed with a shovel from the parent. A mat of roots had grown where I had scraped the stem.

Rouge, I never saw hummers at the large flowered geraniums; I think that they have traded nectar for bloom size. but the tiny flowered ones are really popular. I cannot put out feeders for the hummers safely due to black bears. We see lots of evidence of them, and folks with chickens need electric fences. I typically see a couple every year, so I have spent a number of years finding plants that attract hummingbirds. This year I know I have three, at least one male, and at least two female that often argue over whose turn it is to visit the flowers.