1: Salvias gregii; the only California native in your set 2: Forget me not; self sows as a pretty weed, not native 3: Borage; another weedy self sowing herb with pretty flowers 4: Chasmanthe aethiopica: a South African bulb which has naturalized here, survives on rainfall alone and goes deciduous in summer, it is attractive to Hummers 5: Plum tree, another plant that has naturalized here and can survive on winter rainfall alone, birds and people like the fruit. Your garden photos are all plants that can grow with absolutely no care on your part, but are seasonal winter growers into spring for the weeds. They are quite a few natives that are attractive to hummingbirds, but even more flowering plants from South America with showy flowers that are even more attractive to hummingbirds such as Abutilons, Iochromas, Fuchsias such h as F. boliviana and F. paniculata, Cantua buxifolia, Cupheas, etc. California natives to look for would include some of the Ribes species, Zauschnerias, some Penstemons to name a few. Pick up a copy of the Sunset Western Garden book for more information on gardening in the SF Bay Area and your zone 17 climate. Annie's Annuals Nursery also has a great web site with info on natives and hummingbird attracting plants on her web site, and the nursery in Richmond, California is well worth a visit.

Gak! I've never even seen these feeders before, and when I saw the picture I was horrified. How can these people who make these 1. call these "Best-1 Feeders" and 2. claim they are easier to clean? The very easiest to clean feeders I've found are the saucer feeders, you just have to make sure they don't have the yellow flowers (what on earth are these feeder makers thinking with using yellow anyway??? -- that's a yellow jacket attractant!) Let me see if I can find a link to these... Found one... They are all over the place. I see no reason whatsoever to use the other plastic feeders. I do have a couple of hand blown glass ones, the only problem with them is they tend to leak and attract yellow jackets at that time of the year, but I just take them down then, and there are all kinds of flowers the birds like that are blooming then anyway. I have given up on any bottle type feeder that doesn't allow adequate cleaning with bottle brushes, so that includes the famous "perky pet" feeder that is the hourglass shape - which is absolutely the worst design in hummingbird feeders, except this best-1 design. The Best-1 feeder looks like it has the same problem with the bottle brush issue. It really shouldn't take rocket science to figure out how to design a good feeder... but then again, perky pet has red dye added to their nectar too. And that's not a good idea. Saucers are easy to clean and easy to hang without leaking because you don't have to flip them over, and the hummers love them.

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.

You would do well with most of the guaranitica forms. There are some S. microphylla forms that are hardy as well. You may be able to do some S. puberula, S. involucrata, and S. greggii forms, especially with some protection. If you can mulch with bags of various sizes of shredded tree leaves, they will act as a removable cold frame. When spring begins to come, you selectively remove smaller bags to expose the plants and to warm the soil, keeping them handy for cold spells. With this system, you should be able to keep zone 7 plants going in the ground. The plants mentioned can be potted up and kept in a sheltered area as long as they are kept just moist, not wet or bone dry. When digging up, make sure to keep fine feeder roots.