kqcrna said:This is a favorite of mine. I initially wintersowed the seeds, probably about 8 years ago. I found that they self sow pretty well so I haven't had to bother sowing them for the past few years. I generally get a few volunteer plants each year. The volunteers sprout late, and the seedlings closely resemble a common weed that grows here, so I have to be careful not to hoe them out by accident. And since they sprout late, they also bloom late- not until late August or September. By that time most of my plants are dying off or going dormant. The hummingbirds love them, and they are in bloom after some other favorite nectar sources are finished for the year.
Karen
beckygardener said:Oh! There is one other plus about this plant as well as many other salvia nectar plants ....
Some species of birds love flower nectar. I took this video through a window and watched as Cardinals and Painted Buntings manipulating the blooms around in their beaks to lick the nectar from the back of each bloom. They will chomp the blooms up and then drop what's left. They love nectar and will also pull the blooms off both of my Cape Honeysuckle trees. (I grow CH in small tree form.) I couldn't figure out why there were so many blooms on the ground over a period of 2 days, until I saw the birds doing that. They will de-flower my CH trees in a matter of days. Which is good and bad. My over-wintering hummingbirds don't appreciate that!
If you watch this video, you can see the birds going after the different salvia blooms. At the end of this short video, you can see a Painted Bunting pulling Coral Nymph blooms off one of my plant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...