Anybody out there who doesn’t like to watch hummingbirds as they flit through the yard?  If that’s you, read no farther but just skip to the last paragraph or two.  If you’re like me,
however, continue to read.

Folks like hummingbirds for a variety of reasons: they are entertaining;  they are fearless in defending their territory and  feeders from others (including hummingbirds who are
“strangers”, and for those of you who like nature photography, they are quite the challenge. The photo hint first: try to entice birds to a colorful, single flower and be there, waiting, with your camera on a stable mounting or tripod.  Try to chase any bird around the yard for a picture just doesn’t work!

To get hummingbirds to come into the yard and stay there requires a few items: a feeder, of course; a place to just sit and rest the old wings for a moment or two (the hint here can be as simple as hanging a wire coat hanger near the eaves of your  home)—how low-tech is that?; and a suet cage filled with scraps of yarn and string for nesting material, a kind of a “one-stop" nest materials store.  Let a few dandelions go to seed, hummers use the seeds to line their nests. Add a lot of hummingbird-friendly  plants and you’re pretty much done.

Now as for keeping them there: full tummies make for staying birds.  A special treat that’s not put out there often is overripe cantaloupes.  Hummingbirds will devour that tasty treat and you don’t waste.  Another thought: remember your successes from past seasons or those things that worked for your friends. Cannas, Bee balm, Gilia flowers, etc.  Stick with what worked, and don’t bother wasting money trying other plants –unless you wanted to have those choices in your yard anyway.  GO RED!  Just about anything that’s red will draw hummers.  To get them to notice new feeders, attach leftover red ribbons, pieces of scarves, even “el fako” flowers will work.  Once the little guys find the feeder, they will return!   

Speaking of feeders, make your own “nectar” and save some money.  All it takes to make the goodies is 4 parts water to 1 part sugar.  Boil it, cool it, and fill your feeder(s).  No need to add the red food coloring, especially if the feeder is red.  If the feeder is in the shade, you’ll have less algae growth so the sugar water won’t need changing as often.

I don’t put out hummingbird feeders in my yard as the neighborhood cats, both feral and tame, seem to think that my large backyard is theirs for the using since my dog is gone.  My own cats enjoy watching the birds out in the tree at the window.  I don’t know what the cats really are saying but it sound suspiciously like “Here, birdie, birdie!”.  Oh well, I guess I’m not the only one who enjoys watching the birds !

On a different note, the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society just had the annual spring sale at the Shepherd Garden & Art Center across the street from McKinley Park ( 3330 McKinley Blvd) in Sacramento last week-end.  If you are interested in joining or finding out more about this group call: George & Oskun Avery at 916-682-8397 or email
gravery2@Comcast.net.  The group meets the 4th Monday of the month, except in Dec.  Dues are $15 per person or $20 per family.

My Easter gift from my kids this year was weeding and cleaning- out my raised beds.  They know it’s time for mom to plant her summer garden.  (Not from seeds, too late for most of what I plant) I like to plant my vegetables in raised beds for many reasons. Here are a few of the advantages to planting in a raised bed:

• less bending and strain on your back
• no soil compaction
• less digging (once you’ve finished amending your soil and planting)
• improves drainage
• easy access to crops on both sides
• adds structure to your garden~ visually enhances your yard
• vegetables in a raised bed can be grown closer together

To get started, the first item on my list is to amend my raised beds.  Using compost and topsoil; I aim for a ration of about 2/3 compost to 1/3 topsoil.  I prefer to buy my topsoil and compost from the local hardware store because it is guaranteed weed and disease free. Next on the agenda is to check my sprinklers.  I can’t tell a lie; it’s actually my son who will be tuning-up the sprinklers. (I can’t do everything!) I use a drip system that evenly distributes water around the base of the plants. After a visit to my favorite nursery, it’s time to plant.  I add a little vermicompost (worm manure) to the bottom of my planting hole as well as a side dressing to the newly planted seedlings.  Vermicompost provides nutrient-rich, biologically beneficial addition to new plants and helps the soil retain its moisture.  To finish my weekend project, I will add a good 1 -2 inches of chipped bark over the surface of my beds, taking care not touch the base of my plants.  This helps with water conservation.  So what’s next?  A little nurturing here and there while I anxiously await the fruits of my labor.

I love to go to flower and garden shows. It's fun meeting new plants and seeing what's popular each year.  This year's San Francisco Flower and Garden Show was no exception. The most frequent plants we saw in displays this year was the Strawberry Tree, Arbutus unedo 'Maritima' and various Euphorbias.  But after a few years of visiting, I realized there was more to be gotten from the experience.  I began paying attention to how they were making everything look so beautiful and tried to pick up gardening and display tips. 

This year I was especially impressed with two easy ideas I saw there. The first used old barrel staves (possibly from old wine barrels).  They nailed each end of the wooden stave to a wall, so that the stave was horizontal.  Because of the natural curve in the stave this gave them just enough space to tuck 4 by 4 inch pots behind it.  They put several of these in a vertical column and made a very inexpensive and cute display area. 

The next idea is even easier.  We all know that mulch is good for our plants,; it helps prevent moisture loss. Some of us may even have tried using stones or gravel as mulch in our potted plants.  But these designers took it a step further, and laid out the stones in a pattern.  This was a real eye-catcher. 

There will be more garden shows coming up, so there will be more to learn.  

As I look out at the rainy weather and watch weeds gaily thrusting forth from the soil, I cough, again, and wonder about the latest offerings from the seed and plant catalogs beside me.  Should I try this one – Arenaria ‘Wallowa Mts'-- Moss Sandwort  ?   How lovely, a form of sandwort that has tiny evergreen leaves and doesn’t flower.  “Neat looking and tidy”; sounds so fab, but wait, not for my growing zone, only for 4-8.  Drat!! 

I’ve been doing this now, the reading and wanting, for the last few hours.  In between coughing fits and nose blowing, I’ve managed to find almost everything in this catalog from High Country Gardens Santa Fe New Mexico that is not for this area or that needs special care only a greenhouse can provide in this area.

I want to be working in the yard, continuing my never ending battle with pruning shears in hand.  Didn’t I just buy a new blade for my Felcos just for this war?  The shears are now just sitting idle looking rather sad and forlorn as though I abandoned them for life!  Sorry guys but I can’t go outdoor, I have a bad cold – this is the worst one-week vacation I’ve taken in years!

I put in for my vacation with the boldest of plans: prune roses and the other shrubs in the yard; purchase new seeds for the annuals that will look wonderful in the empty pots around the patio (various zinnias and other annuals); check out Annie’s Annuals catalog for must haves and then get them; and just putter around the garden as though I was in charge and not those birds who are fighting over which shrub and old nest is whose.

What did I get instead?  I’ll tell you: a surprise trip out of town for three days and a cold which came with a bark of a cough.  You know it’s bad when your sister-in-law in the next hotel room thanks you for keeping her up all night!  But that was then and now is now.

Now it’s dry and the wind is blowing like crazy; on the horizon to the West is another dark bank of clouds coming this way.  I know if I had just stayed at work that there would be no rain or gloom.

But looking out another window, my “star magnolia” (Magnolia stellata) is blooming away – though the winds and rain are pounding at it, that little tree is covered in the white, long-petaled blossoms.  It is proof that Spring can’t be too far behind. I have to stop writing and musing now, coughing and sneezing have waited long enough for my attention!