Place a big pot of some hummingbird attracting annual on your back porch and hang the feeder close by. They'll discover it in no time. And I find some feeders are more appealing than others - forget the fancy blown glass ones and go with the cheapo plastic discs. These tend not to spoil as fast in hot weather and give the hummers a perch for feeding......all the better to watch them!! And the species you are describing are most likely Anna's. They are year round residents in the Puget Sound area and are not the most colorful hummers on the planet, especially when juveniles. Adult males often have iridescence and a red throat. And I'd not worry about them being fearful of the house. IME, hummers are not afraid of much - not me , not the house, not my cat (who knows he's not anywhere as fast and just looks) or the dog. In fact, I am a little bit afraid of them coming into the house as a hanging basket they frequent is right by the back door that is almost always open in hot weather. And they hover and stare at me through the windows.

He mistook crocus bulbs for potatoes, Jannie? OMG, that's a riot! And the best part is catching him in the act! lolol Mine doesn't throw my stuff away but he puts it away WHILE I'm using it or before I'm done with it. It's not like I leave stuff lying around. For example, the other night I was making a pasta dish. I put the colander in the sink so I could drain the angel hair. Went to get the pot about 2 minutes later and the colander was gone! Gone! Where's the colander? Oh, he says- I thought you were done with it so I washed it and put it away. (Oh, I know what you're thinking, "Isn't he helpful! And look, he washes dishes!) Yeah, yeah..... it's not helpful to wash a perfectly clean item and move it as I'm preparing to dump boiling hot water in it! I asked him if he noticed the pasta boiling on the stove and he said he didn't, but he can spot a standing colander from 50 paces! He puts away salad fixings, too, before I've made the salad. It's ridiculous, I pull them out, he puts them away. I ask where's my lettuce and he says "I thought you were done with it." Um, see any bowls of lettuce anywhere, Einstein? lol Men. Grrrrr. Don't EVER let him retire, Clare! Find him a job. Give him a honey-do list that won't quit. Anything, but keep him busy outside! Oh, and how come Mr. "Place For Everything and Everything In Its Place" can't close the closet door in the LR? I close that bi-fold door about 20 times a day but if I say anything, I'm a nag.

After the bath, a couple shriveled, clearly not liking it. But it's definitely satisfying to see white dots floating in the water. I left them out to dry and started to pick more stubborn bugs from some of my plants. Most of them were motionless, so I assumed the soap bath did the trick. So I left the rest alone. Nuked all the soil of new pots with boiling water, followed by a 4 minute cook off in the microwave. I set them off to dry for a few days, and I tried to pot them up last night. And guess what? The mealies SURVIVE!! Except for those that I had picked on, the rest still had tiny bugs crawling in them. You can call them eggs, larvae whatever, I got fed up. Took out my tub of rubbing Alcohol dunk half a containerful with more dish soap, and yanked everything into the concoction. Rinsed them into another tub of water, and set them off to dry again. This time I inspected every single one. Miraculously, no white stuff or survivors. I'm guessing it worked. The poor remaining plantlets all don't look good. I guess only time will tell if these all can be saved. Will continue to update... Oh, and I also found infestations on my new jades too, thankfully I caught the spread and am now containing it, or at least am trying to..

maybe too exposed--but it's literally about 20 feet from where it was last year. it's been set up since Thanksgiving so they don't need more time. nothing in the windows that I know of.