With the lack of rainfall is it possible to grow plants in SD that will attract Hummingbirds? (San Diego: condo, how much)

[i_love_autumn]

I love most all birds and enjoy feeding/watching them,but here in OH we get only one variety of HB,so I'm very excited about the possibility of seeing more in SD,when I relocate there.

I was wondering though how much of a struggle it is to grown plants that they like with the lack of water?

[TristramShandy]

There are many varieties of hummingbirds out here and they all seemingly love some type of plant that you'll have on your property. I've lived in Pacific Beach, Spring Valley, El Cajon, and San Carlos since I've been in San Diego, and there were hummingbirds zipping around at all four places (topography ranged from beach to suburb to quasi-desert). At my current place they love the fruit trees and bottle brushes, but there have been times where just having a basic flower bed has attracted them. Probably wherever you move will already have some plant that attracts them.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

TristramShanfy is spot on^^

We have several massive aloe plants in our backyard and when they flower the hummingbirds are ALL over them

Many of the drought tolerant plants (that flower) draw the hummingbirds, so they never seem to be in short supply.

[i_love_autumn]

Re:TristramShandy,and Shmoov_groovzsd, thank you so much for that info,now I'm even so much more excited to get there,lol! Reps to both tomorrow when I can give out again.

[Think4Yourself]

Humming birds are every where out here so they seem to be getting enough food. The current drought does make it a bit more difficult but you'd be amazed how water efficient you can be with drip irrigation and some good ground cover. A lot of people around here also amend their soil to add things like peat moss as it acts like a sponge thus allowing the top soil to retain a heck of a lot more moisture over time resulting in the need for less watering even for water hogs like grass lawns. If you have a larger lot then you could look into hugelkulture as they're fairly easy to do when landscaping a yard and can easily reduce total water consumption by 50% while still keeping plants lush and green.

[ShelbyGirl1]

Great advice above! Certainly no shortage of the hummers around here. Frankly, there doesn't seem to a plant they don't like! Favorite appears to be the many Birds of Paradise we have surrounding the house.

[NorthSDLifer]

Originally Posted by i_love_autumn

I love most all birds and enjoy feeding/watching them,but here in OH we get only one variety of HB,so I'm very excited about the possibility of seeing more in SD,when I relocate there.

I was wondering though how much of a struggle it is to grown plants that they like with the lack of water?

ILA,

Plenty of California native plants that hummingbirds adore -- any number of sages and fuchsias, for example. I have so many hummin around my yard that I joke I become bored of their presence. Dig a hole, put plant in the ground, add some mulch but skip fertilizer and amendments. Once established, most of these plants get by and look good with rainfall + supplemental hydration here and there.

[skeke]

We have scads of hummingbirds coming to our flowering lemon tree, succulents, Mexican sage etc. They are happy with drought tolerant plants.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Ours really like the morning glory and other flowering vines. Of course their first choice is the sugared up feeders.

[i_love_autumn]

Thank you all so much for all the info.I planted for the birds and butterflies and used feeders at our country house before my husband died in '97 and I moved back to the city and a condo.

I saw in a bird feeder book that one of the most important things to supply the birds is water,and I imagine that is especially true in SOCAL. any tips on how to do this? I used the top of a plastic bird bath set on the ground here because it was easy to clean with a small hand brush,after the bigger birds dirtied it by bathing in it.