Hello Hummingbirds

How to make your garden hospitable to these high-energy fliers

- MATTHEW OLSON

In a way, hummingbirds remind me of mosquitos. I'll be walking around the garden and suddenly there's a loud buzzing sound inches from my face! These little birds are amazing with their shifty movement-their wings flap up to 70 times per second-and constant energy. Their heart can beat more than 1,200 times per minute when in flight.

When I started gardening, hummingbirds were not on my mind. In fact, I had never seen a hummingbird on our property, which featured mainly hostas and a few struggling potentillas. Over several seasons, I planted a mixture of perennials, including bleeding hearts and nepeta, with a goal of creating a deer-resistant garden in part shade.

Within two years of adding new plants, a pair of hummingbirds were regular visitors to the garden.

They would go back and forth between nearby pine trees and my garden plants, taking moments to rest on the trees before feeding on the blooms around the house. We also added feeders by the window to give them extra food and provide us with entertainment.

Whether you garden on a patio or in a yard, there are ways to lure these unique birds to your space. Like other birds, hummingbirds look for three things in a potential home: shelter, food and water.

For shelter, it's good to have a few shrubs or trees nearby for them to build a nest or perch. Hummingbirds have tiny nests (about the diameter of a quarter), which they build using spiderwebs and plant debris like dandelion fluff, so being less tidy around the garden can support their nesting efforts.

Hummingbirds depend on a water source less for hydration, which they achieve through drinking nectar, but for keeping clean. A birdbath with a mister or a fountain can benefit them, or you may even see hummingbirds darting through the spray of a sprinkler or watering wand.