My sedums aren't blooming yet, but they were taken from plants just like you said. I stuck them in the dirt and kept them watered. I cut back bee balm, shastas, even my hibiscus. It makes for a fuller plant and lots of blooms. Almost all perennials can tolerate this. Great too for staggering bloom cycles to extend the flowering time. Cut 1/3 of the plant when you see buds. Cut another 1/3 a couple weeks later or just as the buds are opening. Leave 1/3 to bloom as normal. It also staggers the height and helps hold up the tallest stalks that weren't cut back. The Well Tended Perennial Garden. Can't go wrong with that book.

How short? Salvia coccinea is a hummingbird favorite and might be a good choice if your window boxes are on the sunny side of your house. It will grow over a foot tall but it's somewhat airy so it might be nice to have those sticking up where you can see them from inside the house. There's a named cultivar of it called 'Lady in Red' that's very nice. Then you could plant something like annual red verbena in the front part of the window box so you will have something hanging down over the edges. Those both like sun. Fuchsia, like someone already suggested is a good choice if it's on a shadier side of your house. Hummingbirds like lots of flowers that aren't red but when you're first getting started, the bright red flowers will get their attention and help attract them to your yard.

I wish I knew alot more about bugs, so I could figure out what this one is. I'm going to go out daily and try to get a picture of this little bugger, pun intended. I use bugs in my name because that was my nickname when I was little,and weirdly enough that's the nickname my son picked up in college. Anyway, the picture luvmydaisies sent was sorta kind of similar, but not the same. This one I saw was much lighter in color, the stripes were at the back end, and it was three tones, from green to beige to the back stripped area. It moved so fast and darted in and out of the flowers so quickly, but virtually stopped still when drinking the nectar, except for the wing movement. It was quite beautiful, and in the sunshine had a irredecent quality in some areas of it's body. Maybe it is some kind of a moth. Does someone have a good insect/bug/website you could direct me to. I love a good mystery. Michele>^,,^

I have the same problem in several apartments that I've had in Texas, so the air-flow thing I think does not help much. I was actually going online trying to find the answer to the same question you're asking. But I have had some "survivor" plants. These are the plants that have done good so far. Basil Coreopsis Lavendar Dianthus Theres some others I don't know the name of. In general, I've found Daisy-like plants seem to do well, while vining plants are the surest to get the mites and perish. Also, drought resistent plants tend to do well since spider mites are attracted by plants under stress. I just did a little search and found that onions or chives is supposed to repell them. Have not tried this yet. Which plants have you had luck with? Here is a link that might be useful: My Homepage