Hummingbird season has begun!

[Beekissed]

We haven't seen any of those and this past year was the first time I saw a bee fly...it was gorgeous! We've decided to plant even more butterfly/hummingbird attractants this year, both perennial and annual. Since we've been doing that we've seen so many different types of butterflies that we hadn't seen previously.

Our feeders just attracted ants and yellowjacket bees along with the birds but these flowers attract a different clientele, so we put the feeders away finally. We're glad to be done with them...they were a mess.

 

[so lucky]

I just googled this to make sure, but it is interesting that the tomato hornworm is the caterpillar stage of the hummingbird moth (sphinx moth). That "worm" we hate as tomato gardeners is a thing of beauty in the flower garden. What a conundrum!

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you look at them objectively the tomato hornworm is pretty attractive, but they sure don't last long when I find one. I grew up battling its close cousin the tobacco hornworm as well as the tomato, so it is hard to look at it objectively.

One I often find on parsley or dill is the Eastern Black Butterfly caterpillar. The caterpillar and the butterfly are both beautiful and I can live with the damage.

 

[thistlebloom]

We see at least one Sphinx moth every summer, hovering over the flowerbeds, but I have never found any caterpillars on my tomatoes. Weird.

 

[Lavender2]

I'm happy your hummers are returning! @flowerweaver

They will be here around May 1, although not in the numbers you have, that would be SO cool! I like to get the feeders out for their return as there is not much blooming around here that early in Spring. I guess they know what they're doing and they find things, but I've also started some salvias early for them.

I've seen several sphinx moths but never the caterpillars on the tomatoes either. For some reason they are not laying eggs in that garden ... or something?? Years ago I think I had some caterpillars on a hibiscus, I think that's what they were..?

 

[flowerweaver]

@thislebloom and @Lavender2 same here, I think I've only ever seen damage to two tomato plants out of hundreds I've planted each year for over a decade, yet I have lots of these moths. There must be something the larval stage prefers to tomatoes in each of our environments.

I heard from a friend that lives further south than me and she says the hummingbirds are late, that she is only seeing a fraction of hers and she hasn't been through a tornado. So maybe there's hope after all.

 

[so lucky]

Speaking of moths, does anyone see luna moths very often? It's been several years since I saw one.

 

[flowerweaver]

I've only seen two or three in the 14 years I've been here. They sure are spectacular! I wonder what their larva eats?

 

[Beekissed]

I see one about every year but they are much smaller than they were when I was young...much smaller.

 

[thistlebloom]

I see one about every year but they are much smaller than they were when I was young...much smaller.

That's because you're much bigger than you were when you were young.