BASICS


BASICS: "Hummingbirds.....where is the person, I ask, who, on observing this glittering fragment of the rainbow, would not pause, admire, and turn his mind with reverence..." (J. J. Audubon).
This is a blog about my summer life at the Baiting Hollow Hummingbird Sanctuary, at my winter garden, Calypso, in the Bahamas, and aspects of life in general.
This private sanctuary is now permanently closed to the general public, as a result of a lawsuit brought by a neighbor. Only my friends and personal guests may visit (paul.adams%stonybrook.edu).

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Growing Roses Up Trees


I love roses even though hummingbirds don't - but so do the numerous deer here at the sanctuary. So I'm attempting to train them to climb up into the wild cherry trees here, which are small and do not have very dense foliage. I'm using old-fashioned disease-resistant and shade-tolerant types.  Although they are still quite small, they are now above browsing height, and in bloom. Here is a flower of "Francois Juranville" :


And here is a video of "Etain"




Friday, June 1, 2012

It's June and Hummingbirds (and I) are here!

I'm now spending more time at the sanctuary, and getting plants in the ground for our re-opening, at the beginning of august (it's possible we might have a few sneak open days prior to that; details will be posted here; please do not attempt to visit outside of announced open times). I see both a male and female hummingbird every day, but only very rarely and briefly - nesting is in progress.
Here is a picture of my crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) in flower (a good hummingbird plant, and very rare on Long Island).


It is quite old and very high in a mulberry tree. The flowers are about 2 inches long. It is normally found on the Georgia coast Sea Islands!

Exciting news! - there's a new store on Long Island (in Medford) devoted exclusively to hummingbird plants - see lihummingbirdplants.com. I've not yet had a chance to check it out but will report here when I do.

I will post more information about the Sanctuary (the number one hummingbird sanctuary in the world according to Google!), hummingbird and other plants, and hummingbirds on Long Island here at this blog in the coming days.