Date: 09/06/2023

Number: 5

The patio hummer star, potted salvia: Sage bloomed profusely and very early this Spring Long before my Eastern columbine It was time to divide the plant so it sent up a valiant effort to reproduce by seeds before the center dying back The arriving birds found bounty
Today a new flush of blossoms finally started opening from 2 of those repotted As a cold front approached I watched them battle windy conditions, bumble bees, and each other to fuel up
As the males focused their activity on that corner What I’m convinced is the same female mama who first greeted me in 2020, found a opening to the feeder and where I sat I don’t claim to be able to translate her chatter But she turned her back on the boys to hover eye level and deliberately make contact for at least 5 seconds until they noticed and banished her

It’s been a dry hot season Most of the native plants on and surrounding this property are in steep decline The lot nearby that has grown a good seasonal variety for 3 years has been mowed Not many late bloomers are left standing Few goldenrods struggle to set buds
I had scattered over a pint of assorted native seeds late in 2020. 3 glorious Tall Thistle in the shaded edge under her preferred nesting trees at the property line were enjoyed until it’s gotten too dry even for them But I pulled up turff to add a crowded 3’x4’ patch of Tithonia rotundifolia Mexican sunflowers at the edge of the tree canopy Despite drooping leaves every week without rain in partial sun they are a bright spot in the gloom Granted I have very occasionally hauled a bucket of water to that vicinity several times just to encourage the 4 surviving KY Wisteria seedlings I planted against the dividing fence So the annuals got a shallow dosing too a couple of times
It does concern me that fewer natives seem to be available for our local wildlife

But today I counted 3 and possibly 4 hummingbirds darting to the new additions out of sight of and not including those 2 males on the salvia I’ll be saving seeds of these drought resistant aliens Between the mowers freezing weather and the shade they will stay confined unable to spread on their own But like the tropical milkweed, A. curassavica, that reseeded itself on my deck I am witnessing this NKY growing zone climb higher
Unprecedented, unpredictable weather refuses to allow traditional planting and cultivation of crops with the same success Obviously nature must likewise adapt
Still I have mixed feelings Just the other day as I surveyed another corner about an acre distant from my deck I expected to see Ageratina altissima white snake root that I’d dug and pulled up crabgrass and ragweed to plant (for monarchs) It did well last year and there was already a healthy scattering in the nearby aforementioned vacant lot Far from grazing animals on the farm next door I’d seen no reason for it not to thrive But instead of more white blooms waving through the Tall ironweed and thistles a somewhat shorter plant provided white Apparently some decades or centuries past homesteaders liked daisies and it’s common to see some varieties of them vying for space next to native clumping prairie plants I even left a controlled sliver of an established clump in my native garden I moved from 3yrs ago, while being ruthless against other invasives
So it’s with decades of experience that I say I have never seen what I believe to be oxeye Leucanthemum vulgare spread so exponentially in 1 year They aren’t just 2-3x wider like those that transplant them hope for in a cultivated garden without competition, I believe it’s twice that many at least Not a hummingbird in sight Although I’m sure they visit that remnant unmowed corner

I had to put this writing down and come back to it Conditions for flight have changed outside of my window since 09:30 from wind gusts to breezy What little rain made it to the ground has evaporated by 4:00 A single hummingbird with no visible red has had the large upper deck to itself for the past 20 minutes that I’ve seen Likely the chatty matriarch Because between brief checks to see if the salvia zinnias and mints have recharged after the earlier feeding frenzy it’ll drink deeply from the feeder and perch on my 2’d tallest tomato stake The corner one, higher has a much wider view of their little kingdom; from now wilted Amur honeysuckle across the road down this hill to those sunflowers, is now the exclusive throne for her son
I think I’ll go out and foster my bond of familiarity with the mama or baby before they migrate Too bad I can’t share a telephoto picture of the bright green birds nectaring on bright orange flowers It’s a pretty sight

Crittenden, KY

Latitude: 38.8 Longitude: -84.6

Observed by: Jypsi
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