probably over fertilized in a pot .... hence the extra blooms... raped from the pot and planted.. transplant shock .. and acclimating to the native soil ... i wouldnt have been surprised if you got no flowers.. the year after transplant .... patience is all you need... soon enough you will be trying to beat it back with a stick ... no need to ever fertilize a shrub .... they are aggressive enough.. without help .. once they get over the transplant shock ... ken

Tom - no I have never had one stay but for more than a day or two - as Marcia says that may start soon. This guy showed up Jan. 10 and has been a daily visitor. Then on Feb. 11 saw a 2nd, an immature male and he has visited but only in the late afternoon. I think my resident one may have moved on or at least he is definitely not hanging around throughout the day as he was. A few of my neighbors found out that I had one and they have also put out feeders or at least said they were going on. I don't know if he would move to another house after being here for so long. Anyway, only saw one feeding at noon and only for a few seconds. Its color under the chin was coral - not as deep red as "Hummie" but more than the immature. As I said it was only for a second and it was bright outside so maybe it was him. But he hasn't been around for the long afternoon feeding he used to do. I feel kinda sad. As far as butterflies - not much going on here. Have seen more Sulphurs than anything else. I have tons of Milkweed and even some of my Passionvine made it throught the cold. I have several pots of Parsley, dill and fennel. My poor Pipevine really got hit hard, burnt to a crisp on top. Wild Lime is okay, Rue is struggling. I haven't seen as many Gulf Frits or Monarchs as I usually do throughout the winter. I too have a couple of Eastern Black chrysalis and a couple Giant Swallowtails overwintering. I am sure there are Polydamas underneath the Pipevine. My neighbor found a chrysalis inside her screened porch, attached to the frame of her sliding glass door. Hope we are finished with the cold weather. I am ready for spring!

i am on this forum trying to answer this very question, I have evergreen bushes in front of my house and lots of butterfly bushes in the back, this year the hummers are ignoring the butterfly bushes and choosing to search the tip of the evergreens out front....I am totally baffled by this behavior, the only thing i can figure is maybe they are searching for insects.....I have never seen such a thing, they are out there everyday since they have arrived....weird..

I have been watching a number of female ruby throat hummingbirds, it's been raining for a couple days now, and a lone female ruby throat has started setting on one of the flower petal on the feeder for long lengths, last time for almost 7 minutes in the pouring rain. She has feed about six times during that time, I've never seen this kind of action, of course this is my first year with feeders for both hummingbirds and regular birds. Is this normal behavior, there is no shelter there? she has added hovering in front of the window that's in front of the feeders, it has a reflective coating on the windows to stop heat loss or to prevent heat coming in in the summer. she is testing the window with her beak not really pecking, at first I thought she was lick the water off the window. Looks like she wants in. This post was edited by plantnut65 on Sat, Jul 19, 14 at 23:44