Fairly new to Denton, Tx. This past Spring 2014 had 30-50 early Spring Hummingbird visitors. We were thrilled to see them as 1st year here had only 1-2. Were here for only 2- 2 1/2 wks. when as suddenly they came & just as suddenly they all left except 1- 2 eating at feeders early AM & before nightfall.Trying to get help for Spring 2015. Need ideas for best early blooming small shrubs/ accent trees/perinnels that will keep hummers in our yard until our summer plants are blooming. Foundation plants are welcome also. We are in Zone 8. Have loamy, sandy soil that drains well. On a watering system to keep plants alive in drought. See larger section for plants we do already have. Any suggestions are appreciated as many plants I was use to gardening with in N.C. do not enjoy this Texas, afternoon sun.
This will be our 2 yr. trying to turn our older yard into a Hummingbird/Butterfly Oasis with other birds & wildlife too. While we have been working on our beds as fast as our time & pocketbook will allow. Our 4 Hosta's have not bloomed or grown well for the last 2 yr.s Someone just told me the other week that they do not grow here well in the ground but do well in pots without any need to shelter them from snow or the cold winter's we get sometimes. I have Summer plants I did from seed these last 2 yrs. My husband loves the low Zinnia's for the borders. I planted a few Higher Zinnias also with Cypress Vine & Mexican Sunflowers. This Spring I planted 3 Bright Eyes Phlox that our Butterflies/Ruby-Throated Hummers enjoyed in N.C. We have 2 Emperor Purple Coneflowers & 1 white one ( but I have not seen that much interest in these plants). We have 2 Suncrest Bright Eyes Autumn Sage which has done well this summer & still has a few blooms on it. We had to move our 3 Taller Sage to the Front yard because it did not have enough sun from our neighbors tall trees. The 1st yr. here our Black Knight Buddleia struggled during our 1st summer in the heat and then died after all the snow & Ice we had. I planted 2 smaller Varieties of Buddleia's in pots this year called "Blue Chip" & "Peacock" and both did well & I even got the Hummers/Butterfly's to check them out. Still had to move them out in shade when the Intense Texas Sun started to burn them. I plan to over-winter them in the garage or plant them in a sheltered place in the ground. We also have some Native Sage Bush that has silver leaves but only blooms when it is about to rain or is raining. We have Lantana the yellow one and the pinkish/cream or yellow one. I planted rosemary, dill and parsley and the dill and parsley got either eaten up or bloomed and then died. Something loved to eat our Potato vines this year which was fine with me and also were eating the blooms from our Mexican sunflower petals and zinnia petals only around all the edges leaving the center's intact. We later found a Huge Caterpillar Moth in one of my vases so we guess he was the culprit but he sure was pretty. I planted 4 Pineapple Sage but did not know it did not bloom until October. We did still have 2 Hummers until Oct.13th so they did enjoy these plants & we are enjoying seeing something blooming now in the garden when everything else seems to be in their resting stage now. This Fall about 2 weeks ago we added a Honeysuckle "Major Wheeler" but it is still very small about 4 inches high/with 6 in. spread. Also added a Knipholia Mango Popsicle this Fall. I plan to add a "Campsis Radicans Balboa Sunset next Spring as it was a hummingbird magnet in our N.C. garden. We trimmed it to keep it from getting our of control. But as you can see these plants except for the Honeysuckle Major Wheeler are all summer blooming plants. I have no idea's for our side yard foundation shrubs that are mostly dense shade near the back of the house(I could plant 2 shrubs there) & the front corner could take another shrub but it gets about 1 hr. of afternoon summer sun & all 3 shrubs would get all winter sun after the leaves fall off the trees. The front yard we are planning to redo our foundation plants. One side gets all shade and the other side gets all intense, afternoon Summer Texas Sun. I did not want many plants that are prone to get spider mites as we do have that problem already & I do not spray. But, I do not know which plants would bloom early when the hummers are 1st arriving. Our year has well drained loamy soil but I see a tiny bit of dark soil on top and all sand after digging. We did not hit clay or the Rock bed until you get about 5-6 feet down. Our Zone seems to be 8. Our garden is small. We also plan to buy a Chaste Tree next Spring as a Specimen Tree unless you all tell me not to and plant something that will bloom in the Spring instead. Our backyard heats up to 128 degrees when we have triple-digit numbers in August due to the concrete slab and pool area that takes up a lot of our small backyard. Due to 2 storms and Insurance Coverage we may have some money to change our backyard covered patio area and we may be able to incorporate some Vines that would climb up it. I am also trying to get to the place that I have all Perinnels(spelling?) and do not have to plant all these seeds. Small border plants that come back each year are appreciated too. But, I guess for now just need the plants for early spring........
