Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Cage or stake tomatoes while still small so that you can train them as they grow.

• Roses bloom all summer with their abundant flowers in so many different colors. Choose some now when you can see their lovely flowers.

• Feed rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias with an acid plant food to encourage lush growth. Pinch or prune to promote full, dense growth.

• Petunias, in bright pink, red and purple, will add beauty and color to sunny borders all through the summer.

• Fragrant star jasmine is in full bloom right now. Plant one in a semi-shaded spot where you can enjoy its lovely perfume.

Attract Hummingbirds to Your Garden

Hummingbirds are some of the most interesting and colorful birds that visit our gardens. The best way to attract hummingbirds to your backyard is by hanging up feeders, planting nectar-rich flowering plants and even putting up water features that hummingbirds love.

Hummingbird feeders provide hummingbirds with nectar critical to their survival, especially during fall and spring migration. Fill the feeders with sugar water and be sure to change the water regularly to keep it fresh. Hang the feeders where you can enjoy watching them drink and dart about.

But it’s even more interesting to watch them sipping from the flowers in your own garden. They are extremely active birds and will visit hundreds of flowers each day to meet their nutrition requirements. Sugary nectar makes up 90 percent of a hummingbird’s diet and supplies fast energy for the tiny birds.

Many flowers are dependent upon hummingbirds for pollination. Red, a color which is invisible to bees, attracts hummingbirds’ attention, but they also visit orange and pink flowers. The flowers that they pollinate are often tubular, rich in nectar and usually lacking in fragrance.

Some of the annual flowers that hummingbirds like the most are red salvia, snapdragons, petunias and nicotiana. They love fuchsias whose drooping flowers they can reach while hovering beneath them. They also enjoy the flowers of morning glory vines, impatiens and zinnias.

There are many perennials that attract them. In spring they feed on columbines, foxgloves and lupines. In summer there are many good nectar sources for them: lilies, penstemon, summer phlox, cardinal flower, Lily of the Nile, bee balm, hollyhocks, coral bells and daylilies. In late summer they will visit California fuchsias and rose of Sharon.

The orange trumpet vine, Campsis radicans, which blooms most of the summer, is very popular with hummingbirds. Honeysuckle vines are also well liked as are red hot poker plants, which send up tall spikes of tubular orange flowers, gladiolus blossoms, and the unusual red or pink flowers of Grevillea.

The silk tree or mimosa with its fuzzy pink blossoms is a regular stop on the hummingbird’s flight. Butterfly bush and Weigela are also favorites. Choose plants with different blooming periods so that there will be a steady supply of flowers throughout the growing season.

The hummingbird garden should have enough open space for hummingbirds to put on their aerial displays. About one fourth of the yard should be shaded, one fourth partially shaded and the rest open to the sun. Choose plants that will provide blossoms throughout the season. Hummingbirds do not use traditional types of birdbaths, but prefer ones that spray a fountain so they can fly in and out of the spray of water. Or set up a mister and watch them enjoy flying through the mist.

Hummingbirds have good memories and will return year after year to an attractive garden. The more plants you have that the hummingbirds like, the more you will be able to enjoy them all season.

• Fruit trees can be planted now from containers while the soil is easy to dig.

• Water living Christmas trees frequently while they are indoors, and put them outside after a week or ten days.

• Spring bulbs can still be planted now. They make lovely gifts for friends and relatives.

• Sasanqua camellias, like the bright red ‘Yuletide,’ have lovely, delicate flowers that bloom through the winter months. Find a place for one of these hardy shrubs in the landscape.

• Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you. We wish each of you good health and abundance in the New Year!

Make this Holiday One for the Birds

Watching birds feeding, bathing and playing in your backyard is a joy for almost anyone. The birds are beautiful, of course, but their visits serve an important purpose, reducing plant damage from insect pests. Birds are a welcome addition to the garden.

You can attract birds to your yard with bird feeders, bird houses and bird baths.

There are different types of bird feeders. The best all-around type is the cylindrical plastic feeder. Fill them with a good birdseed mix and they will attract a wide variety of birds, including nuthatches, chickadees, juncos, rufous-sided towhees and sparrows.

Window feeders allow you to watch the birds close-up from inside the house. They stick to the window with suction cups. They are especially nice during bad weather so you can still enjoy the company of your feathered friends.

Niger seed feeders, or thistle feeders, are tubular plastic feeders with very small holes for thistle seed. They are especially popular with goldfinches who will entertain you all day long as they squabble over the perches.

The feeding table attracts larger birds that like to dine together. Robins, finches and evening grosbeaks will gather happily at backyard feeding tables.

Hummingbird feeders are filled with sugar solutions that supplement their diet of flower nectar. Anna’s Hummingbird winters in this area so will come to feeders year-round.

Oriole feeders are bright orange and attract brilliant orange-yellow orioles to the garden, where you can enjoy their distinctive whistle along with their colorful plumage.

Birdbaths will attract birds throughout they year, both to drink and to bathe. Watching the activity at the birdbath can be very entertaining, and there are styles of birdbaths to go with any garden decor.

Birdbaths made out of concrete are very stable and make an attractive addition to the garden as well as providing water for the birds. Hanging birdbaths may work best in some locations. Site your birdbath near trees or bushes where the birds can retreat to dry off and preen in safety.

In addition to food and water, birds need a safe place to raise their young. Nesting boxes, or “bird houses,” will encourage the birds that visit you in the winter to stay. The size and type of the nest box and its entrance will determine which birds use it, because different species are attracted to boxes of different dimensions. Specialty boxes are available at stores that handle bird supplies.

Make this holiday one “for the birds.”

• Garlic should be harvested when the leafy tops turn yellow and fall over; air-dry bulbs, remove tops and store bulbs in a cool place.

• Roses need water and fertilizer to keep blooming through the summer. Watch for pests and diseases and treat as soon as you see trouble.

• Birdbaths will attract our feathered friends to your backyard so you can enjoy them close-up. Place them a few feet from a bushy shrub to give the birds protection.

• Zinnias love the heat and will add a rainbow of color to your garden and the deer don’t like them.

• Fragrant star jasmine is in full bloom right now. Plant one in a semi-shaded spot where you can enjoy its lovely perfume.

Attract Hummingbirds to Your Garden

Hummingbirds are some of the most interesting and colorful birds that visit our gardens. The best way to attract hummingbirds to your backyard is by adding a combination of things: feeders, nectar rich flowers and plants and even water misters that hummingbirds love.

It’s fun to watch them drinking from hummingbird feeders, but there’s nothing like seeing them sipping from the flowers in your own garden. They are extremely active birds and will visit hundreds of flowers each day to meet their nutrition requirements.

Many flowers are dependent upon hummingbirds for pollination. Red, a color which is invisible to bees, attracts hummingbirds attention, but they also visit orange and pink flowers. The flowers which they pollinate are tubular, rich in nectar and usually lacking in fragrance.

Some of the annual flowers that hummingbirds like the most are red salvia, snapdragons, petunias and nicotiana. They love fuchsias whose drooping flowers they can reach while hovering beneath them. They also enjoy the flowers of morning glory vines, impatiens and zinnias.

There are many perennials that attract them. In spring they feed on columbines and lupines. In summer there are many good nectar sources for them: lilies, penstemon, summer phlox, cardinal flower, bee balm, hollyhocks, coral bells and day lilies. In late summer they will visit the California fuchsia and Rose of Sharon.

The orange trumpet vine, Campsis radicans, which blooms most of the summer is very popular with hummingbirds. Honeysuckle vines are also well-liked as are red hot poker plants, which send up tall spikes of tubular orange flowers, and the unusual red or pink flowers of Grevillea.

The silk tree or mimosa with its fuzzy pink blossoms is a regular stop on the hummingbirds flight. Butterfly bush and Lavatera also favorites.

The hummingbird garden should have enough open space for hummingbirds to put on their aerial displays. About one fourth of the yard should be shaded, one fourth partially shaded and the rest open to the sun. Choose plants that will provide blossoms throughout the season. Hummingbirds do not use traditional types of birdbaths, but prefer ones that spray a mist or a fountain so they can fly in and out of the spray of water.

Hummingbirds have good memories and will return year after year to an attractive garden. The more plants you have that the hummingbirds like, the more you will be able to enjoy them all season.