Newspaper Page Text
Page 7C
ftREporter
April 26, 2023
MONROE OUTDOORS by Terry W. Johnson
Create garden of beautiful blossoms for hummers
TERRY W. JOHNSON
T he best way to
attract humming
birds to your
Monroe County
yard is to provide the birds
with a combination of food
supplied in feeders and
nectar plants. While most
local hummingbird enthu
siasts do an excellent job
maintaining feeders, many
of us do not do
as much as we
could planting
the plants that
generate nectar
that the birds
also need.
This is un
fortunate since
the yards that
feature feeders
and an abun
dance of nectar
plants from spring through
fall consistently host more
birds than those that lack
this winning combination. If
you are interested in ex
panding your hummingbird
gardening efforts, here are a
few tips that will help.
One reason why it is
important to offer the birds
plant nectar is humming
birds cannot exist on sugar
water alone. Early attempts
to keep hummingbirds in
captivity failed because the
sweet solution the birds were
fed lacked protein and other
nutrients the birds needed to
survive.
Hummingbirds have
an extremely high rate of
metabolism that requires
them to consume a huge
amount of food daily. They
eat up to half their body
weight in nectar, sap, and
small invertebrate each
day. If our metabolism was
that high, we could consume
155,000 calories of food a
day without gaining any
weight. In order to eat that
much food, hummingbirds
nectar at 1,500
or more flowers
a day and eat
upwards of 2,000
mosquitos, tiny
spiders, caterpil
lars, and other
invertebrates.
There are
literally hundreds
of cultivated and
native plants
that can provide
hummers with nectar. His
torically, gardeners adorned
their gardens with an array
of plants that were selected
solely for their beauty. Fortu
nately, some of them also
produced nectar. Nowadays,
homeowners that want a
beautiful landscape that also
attracts hummingbirds and
other pollinators are adding
cultivated and native plants
that generate nectar to their
gardens. These plants are
as beautiful as the existing
exotic ornamentals that
produce little or no nectar.
It makes sense to include
native plants on the list of
plants that are being used
to create a humming
bird-friendly landscape.
The relationships existing
between hummingbirds and
these plants have evolved
over thousands of years.
Some, like wild columbine,
are primarily pollinated by
hummingbirds. In addition,
native plants often harbor
more of the small inverte
brates that are so important
to the hummingbirds diet.
Once you decide to
embrace hummingbird
gardening, you face what is
the seemingly daunting task
of selecting which plants to
use. A good place to start
your quest for information is
to seek the advice of friends
and neighbors that are suc
cessful in luring humming
birds into their yards with
flowering plants. There is no
substitute for experience.
I recommend that you
also contact Melissa Hayes
at the Georgia Wildlife
Conservation Section office
here in Monroe County.
Melissa can be reached by
phone (478-994-1438) or
email (melissa.hayes@dnr.
ga.gov). Ask her to send
you a copy of Georgias
Tiny Travelers information
sheet. This handout contains
a list of scores of cultivated
and native trees, shrubs,
vines and herbaceous plants
used by hummingbirds.
Next, select plants that
offer hummingbirds food
from spring into fall. Since
very few plants bloom across
all three seasons, plan on
providing a parade of nec
Scarlet sage has bright red blooms throughout the sum
mer. It attracts hummingbirds, which are one of its primary
pollinators. (Photo/Terry Johnson)
tar-filled blossoms through
out much of the time the
birds are with us.
Whenever possible, ar
range nectar plants in large
groupings. Such patches
make it easier for humming
birds to find them. It also
helps reduce the amount of
energy it takes them to dine
on the floral offerings.
If you are planting a large
garden, place the largest
plants at the back of the gar
den. Plant the shortest plants
in the front.
It is a misconception that
hummingbirds only nectar
at red flowers. While it is
true that hummingbirds
are drawn to red blossoms,
they will also visit blossoms
that are orange, yellow, pink,
white, purple and blue.
That being said, you can
never go wrong planting
plants with red flowers.
Some experts say red
blooms are easier for hum
mingbirds to find since they
contrast with green foliage.
They also suggest another
advantage is, since bees
cannot see the color red,
hummingbirds do not have
to compete with as many
bees for the nectar found in
red blossoms.
Pendant flowers (those
that feature blossoms that
point downward) are also
good choices since the hum
mingbirds ability to hover
and fly backward allow
them to more easily nectar
at these blooms than many
other nectar feeders.
In addition, the humming
birds long bill and tongue
enable it to reach the nectar
found at the end of long,
tubular blooms. This is one
reason why many of the
top hummingbird plants,
such as coral honeysuckle,
have long, tubular-shaped
blossoms.
I hope you will find this
information helpful. Keep
in mind that hummingbird
gardening is an art and not
a science. Consequently, be
prepared for successes and
failures. What works for
others does not necessarily
mean it will work for you.
However, once you have
found the formula for suc
cess in your yard, over time
you should see the number
of hummingbirds using
your yard increase. Along
the way, you will enhance
the beauty of your yard and
improve your quality of life.
Terry Johnson is a retired
Program Manager of the
Georgia Nongame-Endan
gered Wildlife Program. He
has written the informative
column Monroe Outdoors’
for the Reporter for many
years. His book, “A Journey
to Discovery,” is available at
The Reporter. Email him at
tjwoodduck@bellsouth. net.
Bass Dawgs qualify for Nation State Championship
The following Bass Dawgs
have qualified for the Bass
Nation State Championship
2-day Tournament at Lake
Eufaula, Ala. on June 9-10:
MCMS - Caden Price and
Jude McCoy
High School - Kadie
Freeman and Tyler Walk
er, Drew Grant and Kaleb
Landry, and John Bryant
and Jac Connell.
The MP Bass Dawgs
competed in the GHSA
Tournament at Lake Hart
well and the Bass Nation
Tournament at Lake Clarks
Hill April 15. At Lake Hart
well there were a total of
187 high school teams. Lake
Clarks Hill had a total of 26
junior teams and 116 high
school teams. They placed
as follows:
Lake Hartwell:
• 88th - Landon Ratliff
and Noah Zellner with
Captain DJ Ratliff
• 90th - Trey Britt and
Steven Gibbs with Captain
Colby Andrews
• 93rd - Kris Salas and
Aaron McCoy with Captain
Heath Cox
• 128th - Landon Hen
drix and Floyd Duke with
Captain Scott Menke
• 145th - MaryAlice
Marks and Emaly Guti
errez with Captain Mark
McCoy
Lake Clarks Hill:
Junior Team:
• 2nd - Jude McCoy &
Caden Price with Captain
Michael Price
High School Teams:
• 38th - Drew Grant and
Kaleb Landry with Captain
Joey Lowe
• 74th - Kadie Freeman
and Tyler Walker with Cap
tain Brent Freeman
• 101st - Kelly Rollins and
Zack Grizzard with Captain
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McDonald signs with Andrew College
FPD senior baseball player Colton McDonald of Bolingbroke signed a letter of intent to play college baseball at Andrew Col
lege in Cuthbert on Thursday, April 20. A second baseman, Colton is the son of Ron and Alison McDonald of Bolingbroke, and
the grandson of Mike King and Shelly Shuman of Forsyth.
Evan Bertram Fish weighing in at 3.88 lbs
Congratulations to Jude
McCoy winning the Big
TUESDAY - SATURDAY: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
816 HIGHWAY 41 S. • FORSYTH, GA 31029
(478) 394-4326
Nic Arnold applies the tag against Crisp County on Monday. (Photo/John Belknap)
BASEBALL
Continued from 6C
first in the bottom of the
second inning playing
small ball with a couple of
well-placed bunts and an
error allowing 4 Cougars to
score.
Down 4-0 in the top
of the 4th, the Bulldogs
bounced back starting with
a leadoff homer by Ryan
Jenkins to left field and a
2-run double by Cole Carr
shrinking the deficit to just
1. Crisp answered in the
bottom of the inning with
another rim making it 5-3
Crisp.
In the top of the sixth
with 2 outs and 1 on,
Thomas Brooks blasted
a majestic bomb to right
field which tied the game
5-5 giving MP momentum
going into the bottom of
the inning. Unfortunately,
in the bottom of the sixth,
Crisp scored due to an
errant throw from left field
that found its way toward
the Cougar dugout and a
speedy runner was able to
score making it 6-5 Crisp.
The Bulldogs were able to
once again get the tying
run into scoring position in
the top of the 7th but were
unable to get him across
the plate.
Winning the rubber
match in round 1, the
22-10 Bulldogs will head
to face the 30-5 Savannah
Christian Raiders for round
2. Savannah Christian just
swept the Cross Creek
Razorbacks who were 8-11
on the year. In other playoff
action from the region,
both Upson-Lee and Peach
County were eliminated
and Pike County has ad
vanced to round 2.
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