With its handsome dark foliage and complementary cherry blooms, this fuchsia is a totally tubular magnet for hummingbirds, who love poking their elongated beaks into the funnel of a flower and extracting its sweet nectar. I should have planted more of these, as it’s a brush with the magical and the sublime when one of the hummingbirds deigns to visit. They love these blooms. I’m told they seek out red flowers more than any other, and the form of the blossoms means that large bumblebees can’t get to the nectar, only moths and hummingbirds. (The hummingbird moth is an equally-enchanting creature, if slightly scarier considering that it is, in fact, an insect and not a bird. I prefer bugs to be small, slow and on the ground, and this one checks off none of those boxes.)
Hummingbirds, however, are not only welcomed but courted. I didn’t get around to ordering a certain cultivar of Salvia that they are said to adore, but hopefully White Flower Farm will offer it again next year. So much happens at this time of the year – I can’t be expected to remember everything. But the invitation to hummingbirds stands, and I do hope they drop by.
UPDATE: The fuchsia has already worked its magic. Before this entry was posted, I was sitting on the patio reading when I heard of rush of air: a hummingbird had practically dive-bombed me, as I was right in front of the pot of fuchsia. It was a gray and black beauty, and I watched it float there, suspended perfectly in mid-air, just before flitting away over the fence again. Welcome to summer, little friends.
Back to Blog
