ADVICE FROM A HUMMINGBIRD

Sip the sweet moments

Let your true colors glow

Be a nectar collector

Don’t get your feathers ruffled over the little things

Some days are just a humdinger, just wing it

Keep your visits short and sweet

 

Dear Friends, 

Once again, it has been a very long time since we have been in touch.  However, we are thinking of you and hoping that you and your families are staying well and safe and that you are enjoying the hummingbirds, butterflies, and other summer creatures of beauty and wonder. 

We have been very busy this summer with travel and the garden.  In July, we were visited by Jim and Stephany Putnam from Horttube with Jim Putnam and they put together a wonderful video of our hummingbird garden efforts---this was so very exciting!!    To see our video, visit this link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SesJhqeO_2A&t=121s 

Once again, we attended the Sedona Hummingbird Festival at the end of July and it was such a wonderful and interesting experience as always and we also met up with some old friends.  Later in the newsletter, I will describe our amazing visit to see a friend in Flagstaff who hosts hundreds of hummingbirds and has an amazing hummingbird garden in very difficult conditions.

It is such a great time of the year with the great fall migration of hummingbirds coming in September and we hope that you’ll stop in and share it with us a bit later this season!

If you need information about hummingbird feeders, please e-mail Kathi at kathijr@yahoo.com.  Just a reminder, no matter what feeder you decide to use, it must be scrubbed and cleaned, and the nectar changed every few days or when the nectar is visibly cloudy, especially when weather is hot and humid.  Fermented or spoiled nectar could sicken or kill a hummingbird.  Red dyes are unnecessary---please use ONLY white table sugar (NOT ORGANIC SUGAR, which contains iron and is toxic to hummingbirds!) and water in feeders.  Ant and bee guards will help keep these insects away from your feeders.  Thank you in advance for caring about your hummingbirds and for all the hard work this entails!!  Use of hummingbird feeders at all points during the hummingbird season (early May through mid-October) is key and highly encouraged, especially if you live in an urban area.  Despite our huge garden, we still see hummingbirds use our feeders quite often.  Some young birds will never learn to use feeders though and will only feed from flowers, but other birds will primarily visit feeders.  Feeders also help on very rainy days when flower nectar is diluted or washed away, very early in the morning or at dusk, or on a very cold day as we approach the changing days of fall.    Hummingbird feeders help to identify your garden as one designed for hummingbirds and the red on the feeder will bring hummingbirds into your city or suburban garden (hummingbirds can see red for up to ¼ mile away!).  The extra work involved in maintaining feeders has been very worthwhile for us.  If you have any questions about the use or maintenance of feeders, please don’t hesitate to ask us.

 

Adult Male Hummingbird in our Garden on 9/04/2026.  Photo by Michael Rock

We saw our first hummingbird, an adult male Ruby-throat on MAY 5, a pristinely beautiful adult male.  We overall have had a busier than normal season in terms of hummingbird visits and we luckily did not experience the usual drop in activity in later June and early July.   We were even lucky enough to see a courtship ritual between a male and a female hummingbird earlier in the season and a female hummingbird took some of our unbleached cotton nesting material (which means we had a hummingbird nest near our home---how exciting is that?!)   We hope activity will continue to increase as we get closer to our upcoming Hummingbird Garden Tours.  We hope you are seeing many hummingbirds and that you have been enjoying your hummingbirds and gardens. 

That brings us to our major topic for this communication, our upcoming Hummingbird Garden Tours.    The dates of the tours are SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1-5:30 P.M. and WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1-5:30 P.M. at our home, 5118 Buffalo Trail, Madison, WI  53705.  Events will be held rain or shine (hope for sun!)

-Please feel free to bring your own drink in a closed container, Keep in mind that sugary drinks may attract more insects and we are seeing so many this season.  

-We cannot allow people to use our restroom facilities or enter our home except in an extreme emergency, and we apologize in advance.

-Please do not bring us food, sugar, or other gifts---while we so much appreciate your generosity in the past, we ask that you refrain from doing so again this year.  Your presence at our event, your friendship, and your memories are your gift to us!

-Unfortunately, there will be no hummingbird banding or class this year due to family health issues.  We hope to bring those elements back to our tours in 2027.   

-Small door prize drawings will occur at 3 p.m. on both days.  You must be present to win a door prize. Door prizes are contributed by Wildbirds Unlimited, Christina Ciano and Jeff Buss, and Michael and Kathi Rock.

-We thank Wildbirds Unlimited for their wonderful support and helping us to publicize this annual event.  We also thank Klein’s Floral for publicizing our events in their monthly email newsletter.

We thank Christina Ciano and Jeff Buss for their generous donation of “A Place In The Garden” DVD’s and for their kind support and friendship.

-All handout pieces will be available only online at our website or by special request by e-mailing Kathi at kathijr@yahoo.com.

-We reserve the right to modify these arrangements as needed and required and to cancel the event if needed. from contracting COVID-19.

 

What Will You See & Experience on our Garden Tours?

-Hummingbirds, butterflies, dragonflies, and other pollinators, beautiful flowers, and our pond!

-Hopefully, great weather, which we have been very lucky to experience for all our past tours except for one year.  Let’s all hope for no rain again this year!

-Door prizes---We will have a short program and small door prize drawing at each tour (drawing is at 3 pm).

-We will be thrilled to see you all, along with some new friends, once again as we enjoy hummingbirds together! 

 

A Few Reminders:

-Many bees and wasps are present in a garden with so many nectar producing flowers and sugar water feeders, especially in September.  We ask that you be very cautious and come well prepared if you have a bee or wasp allergy or sensitivity.  Be very careful when walking around our garden that you don’t brush up against a bee or wasp by accident.  If you are allergic or sensitive to bee or wasp stings, please take precautions.  For this reason, we recommend bringing beverages in closed containers only.  Kathi gets stung every year and it is no fun!

-Only our front yard is accessible for people with physical disabilities who use a wheelchair or walker.

-Wear sensible and comfortable footwear as ground may be uneven or rocky or muddy.

-Photography of anything in our garden is absolutely allowed and encouraged.

-Children must always be supervised.

-We ask that you NOT bring any pets (other than service dogs) to the tours!  We strongly recommend you keep cats indoors!!

If you have any questions about the Garden Tours, please e-mail Kathi at kathijr@yahoo.com.  You can also visit our website at www.hummingbirdgardening.net   (and while you’re there, take a peek at the beautiful photos, all taken by Michael, and other valuable information.)

OUR GARDEN 2026, SUCCESSES & CHALLENGES

Every season in our garden with our hummingbirds and plants is so vastly different.   Since weather conditions and gardener preferences and levels of energy and creativity vary so much, one year is never like another.  As we have discovered “There is always more to learn”!  We have learned that sometimes challenges can present opportunities (an example was when a large tree branch fell down during a storm and created a new full sun garden!)  Challenges can also teach us patience and help us to stretch and strengthen our gardening insights and skills.  The joy of our successes more often compensates for the downs of the challenges.

SUCESSES

-More consistent hummingbird activity throughout the season and great use of both perennial and annual flowers.

-Salvia garden and blooming continues to be strong.  Once again, salvias are wonderful in September, just when we need them to be!

-Great success with cuttings and seed starting (thanks to Michael!) to maintain and expand our hummingbird favorite plants selection.

-Use of wood chip application to increase hardiness of tender perennials (we had a Vitex shrub, hardy to zone 7, return and also several tropical salvias.)

-Successful development of two new full sun areas for hummingbird plants in the back and side of our home.  We have been able to feature more full sun perennial and annual plants for hummingbirds.

-Amazing success with Leonotis nepetifolia (Lion’s Ear) plant---it was our second year with this plant purchased at Klein’s Floral on East Washington Avenue in Madison and we grew it successfully from seeds. We have the Leonotis in two different garden areas planted in the ground. The plants are currently 9 to 10 feet tall.  Plants were shared with another hummingbird gardener and photographer.

 

CHALLENGES

-Drought throughout much of summer.  Many of our flowering shrubs have really struggled to thrive this season and watering has been very intense and exhausting!

-A record number of wild rabbits and the destruction of many favorite hummingbird plants, including salvias (which they are not supposed to like.)

-Continued issues with too much shade in the front of our home due to ever expanding city trees.

 

CATMINT, AN OFTEN OVERLOOKED & MISUNDERSTOOD PERENNIAL FOR HUMMINGBIRDS

 

 

We have grown tall, Siberian Catmint in our garden for many years.  This year with increase in numbers of hummingbirds we are seeing, we found that our huge patch of this plant was an amazing draw for hummingbirds in the early summer. 

Most people think about catmint being an insignificant and very low growing plant with tiny flowers that are found in parking lots and other public areas because they require very little care and grow well in full sun.  When they think about a hummingbird garden, catmint does not spring to mind, which is unfortunate, especially given the lack of perennial and easy to grow plants that attract hummingbirds in our colder zones in the Upper Midwest.

While catmint is not a native plant, it does not seed around your garden and only expands at the base of the plant and can be easily kept in check.  It is hardy to zone 3, grows easily and well in most soil types in a sunny spot, and has no disease or pest problems and is pretty drought tolerant.  The downfall is that it begins to decline in August and a cutback sadly does not produce a fresh flush of flowers.  We generally cut the plants down to a few inches tall and place containers of salvias in that area for our September Hummingbird Garden Tours.

There are two types of tall catmint---Siberian Catmint and Japanese Catmint. We have only grown the Siberian type (‘Souvenir d’André Chaudron’, ‘Six Hills Giant’), which is almost impossible to find---WE ARE WILLING TO SHARE SOME WITH ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED NEXT SPRING!  Japanese catmint is a little less hardy (Zone 4) and we are not experienced with that particular plant, but plan to give it a try next season, especially since it seems to be more readily available.  While you only need to plant Catmint once, it can be very challenging to find the right catmint for hummingbirds for sale.   We are not aware of any local nurseries that carry tall catmint

Good online nursery sources for tall catmint include Bluestone Perennials and Digging Dog Nursery. 

If you don’t currently grow any tall Catmint, we strongly encourage you to consider including some in your 2027 garden.   Your hummingbirds will thank you and you will enjoy watching hummingbirds feed from this beautiful flower during its peak bloom in late spring and early summer.

 

SALVIA ‘PINK AMISTAD’

Many of us have grown the original Salvia ‘Amistad’ with its huge purple flowers and striking dark calyces for many years.  A new form of Salvia ‘Amistad’ now available in the US from Select Seeds is called Salvia ‘Pink Amistad.”   We threw our hat in the ring and decided to give it a try.  We have ‘Pink Amistad’ plants growing both in the ground and in containers in different garden areas.  Like the original ‘Amistad’, it requires planting in a full sun area to perform at its peak.

We were delighted when hummingbirds seemed to seek out Salvia ‘Pink Amistad’ almost right away and that the brilliant pink flowers held by the same dark caylces stand out so much more than the dark purple flowers of the original form.

It is a slightly smaller scale plant than the original and is more appropriate for a container than the original form but can be easily grown in the ground as well.  Our cover photo for this newsletter shows a hummingbird enjoying Savia ‘Pink Amistad’.

Salvia ‘Pink Amistad’ is a beautiful addition to our salvia and hummingbird garden and we hope that Select Seeds continues to carry it in the future.

 

A FANTASTIC HUMMINGBIRD GARDEN & EXPERIENCE IN FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA!

When we attended the 2026 Sedona Hummingbird Festival, we enjoyed all of the programs, garden tours, and hummingbird banding immensely with old friends, but the highlight event of this trip was a visit to see a relatively new friend who lives in Flagstaff (about an hour drive from Sedona.)  In his somewhat rural location with mountains in the distance, he is able to attract hundreds of hummingbirds during the fall migration period in one day with many feeders and a very beautiful garden.  Activity is particularly brisk at dawn and dusk and we visited at dusk, followed by a delightful and delicious meal at a local restaurant.  The drive there was nothing short of spectacular. 

In a typical day in late August, our friend’s hummingbirds can easily go through 316 ounces of nectar in 18 feeders!! The amount of work involved in preparing all of this nectar and cleaning 18 feeders is beyond our comprehension.  Below is a photo of what a feeder looks like in our friend’s yard during “Hummingbird Happy Hour”! 

Gardening in Arizona is a very tough business, but especially in the difficult soil and high altitude of Flagstaff. While temperatures there are much cooler than they are in Phoenix or even Sedona (Flagstaff experiences a traditional winter like we do in Wisconsin with A LOT of snow!), sun can be unforgiving because of the high altitude and the fact that plants are so much closer to the sun. 

Plants such as Buddleia (Butterfly Bush), penstemon, Agastache and Columbine do particularly well in our friend’s garden.  Since rain can be unpredictable, drought tolerance is especially important. 

It was extremely exciting to see so many species of hummingbirds in such high numbers---the sound is almost deafening----you must be there to truly understand the beauty of such a spectacle, and we were so privileged to be a witness to it!!   Our friend is clearly an “angel on earth” to do this work to help so many hummingbirds every single season!!

 

 

 

HUMMINGBIRD ON A NEST!

In mid-August, we received an email from friends who live in downtown Madison about a hummingbird nest they were observing in a maple tree on their street. We hurried on over and found Mom on the nest.  Over the next week, we discovered that one chick had hatched (we even had one visit where another hummingbird was trying to chase Mom away from the nest, which we couldn’t quite understand.)  Thank you to our wonderful friend and very talented photographer, Barbara Houlihan, we had an excellent photo of Mom with her chick (below).  Michael also captured a great video which can be found on his Instagram account.

 

From what we know, an August hummingbird nest in Wisconsin is very late for our area.  The typical nesting period is in mid-June, which gives the newly hatched chicks plenty of time to develop and prepare for migration.  We were not entirely surprised that one of the two eggs (hummingbirds almost always lay two eggs) never hatched or was destroyed by a predator.  What was strange and also interesting is that the period Mom spent feeding the chick was rather abbreviated.  We hope that it is because Mom and baby are both fine and on their way south and not because they met with danger and/or death.  Sadly, we will never know, but it was a fun viewing and learning experience.  We hope to find a hummingbird nest in our own garden one of these seasons!

 

 

HUMMINGBIRD ARTICLES/VIDEOS OF INTEREST, OTHER NEWS

-Almost Eden Plants in Merryville, LA is closing its online store and in person business after 22 years!!  We will miss their wonderful selection of pollinator plants so much!  It sadly becomes more difficult to find specialized pollinator plants online and locally as more nurseries close their operations and decrease their offerings of plants for hummingbirds and butterflies.

-In Memoriam:  Betsy Clebsch passed away in California on November 27, 2025 at age 101.  We were honored to have met Betsy at the 2016 Salvia Summit in Berkeley, California.  She was known worldwide for her knowledge about the genus Salvia and wrote two wonderful books and we learned so much about salvias from Betsy’s books.  Find her obituary here:  https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/nottingham-md/betsy-clebsch-12633246?fbclid=IwY2xjawUGw_5wZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAGJyaWQRMUpabmN5bkF4a0dEenVxM2NzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe2rVET4ONVtlCp5KS3tJuCPZe_VWeEkVIZt9GcNZtG_TOP7WCEVXKNI2XbNQ_aem_gaFLqy2Fjp8MTu9UlrypOA

-In Memoriam:  Martha Sargent passed way in Alabama in November 2025.  She was a master hummingbird bander and the wife of famed Master Hummingbird bander, Bob Sargent, who died in 2014.  They created and managed The Hummer/Bird Study Group and their wonderful newsletter and work have been so missed since Bob’s passing.  We went on a birding trip to Arizona with the Sargents in the early 2000’s and they introduced us to the fascinating and beautiful world of hummingbirds there.  They have trained countless hummingbird banders throughout the US and their legacy will live on.  We will miss their wonderful friendship and support.  Here is Martha’s obituary:  https://www.jmgardens.com/obituaries/martha-sargent

-CBS 60 Minutes:  Birding Takes Flight After Peace Deal Between Colombia & Guerilla Group.  If you missed this excellent segment with spectacular photography of hummingbirds in Colombia, find it here on youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_k9f999Erw

-NEW!!  Transmitters on Hummingbirds Further Extend What We Know About These Tiny Birds!   Traditional hummingbird banding will always be the gold standard when it comes to tracking the flight of hummingbirds---a metal band, with its unique number put on a hummingbird by a federally licensed bander, is tried and true with success and detailed records maintained by banders and the Federal Bird Banding Laboratory behind it.  However, technology has taken us in new directions as we expand our knowledge about where hummingbirds go and how they live.  Tiny transmitters applied with glue that can be easily accessed by cellphones and Blue Tooth are an exciting development.  Here are the details: 

Researchers now track hummingbird migration using ultra-lightweight solar transmitters like the BlūMorpho tag, which weighs just 0.058 to 0.060 grams—about the size of a grain of rice. [1, 2]

How the Technology Works

• Weight Limit: Tags and attachments must stay under 3% of a hummingbird's lean body mass to ensure safe flight.
• Attachment: Researchers use specialized safe glue to attach the solar-powered transmitter to a small patch of feathers on the bird's back.
• Tracking Network: The transmitters ping off everyday Bluetooth devices and crowd-sourced regional receivers along migration routes to relay location data.
• Duration: The glue safely wears off or drops during routine preening and molting after 30 to 60 days.

Recent Discoveries

• Historic Tracks: Projects by the Banding Coalition of the Americas mapped unprecedented long-distance journeys, including a Rufous Hummingbird traveling from Alabama to Alaska in 38 days. [1, 2]
• Conservation Goals: The data helps scientists identify critical stopover habitats, resource usage, and environmental needs to protect declining populations. [1, 2]

This new technology gives us access to short term information only as the transmitter will eventually fall off the bird as it preens and molts, but the possibilities of gaining more detailed information about where the bird goes without having to recapture it are very exciting!

THE HUMMINGBIRD’S FAREWELL

 

 

Two little white blossoms

So stately and tall

The hummingbird there

Knows that now it is Fall

 

 

He's come there to tell them

He loves every one

And he will be happy

When Spring has begun

 

 

The days are quite gloomy

The rain has begun

All Nature is thirsty

HE's had QUITE A RUN

 

 

He's come there to thank them

For ALL that they give

Their Beauty and Sweetness

That helps Him to live

 

 

He's whispering to them

Before you depart

Just know that your Sweetness

Lives on in my heart

 

 

--jean monce bryant