Hummingbirds in flight

A garden is a stage for small dramas. Few are as quick as a hummingbird hanging in place, then vanishing. The wingbeat is a figure-eight. The bird can move forward, backward, and, for a moment, upside down. That flight burns fuel, so the bird feeds often and perches high between sips.

Hummingbirds belong to the Americas. Along the California coast the birds you are most likely to know by sight are Anna’s hummingbird, a year-round resident that copes with cool winters, and Allen’s hummingbird. They take nectar, and they take small insects. A garden that only offers sugar water is missing half the diet.

Plant for nectar, not just a feeder

Tubular blooms in red, orange, and pink are easy for a hovering bill: salvias, penstemons, fuchsias, native currants, and many Australian or South African shrubs with nectar-rich inflorescences. Stagger bloom so something is open in every month you can manage. A winter-flowering shrub matters as much as a summer spike.

Skip pesticides that wipe out the tiny arthropods hummingbirds hunt. Leave a few perches with a view of the flowers. The bird will rest there between circuits.

Tie the birds to your cutting calendar

A recent column on perennial propagation laid out a year of stem-cutting windows. That calendar is useful. The window that most often succeeds for herbaceous and shrubby perennials is still the peak softwood period: May and June.

Late winter is not a waste if you are not yet taking cuttings. List the plants you want to clone. Buy pots, mix, and labels. Decide where the tray will sit in bright shade. When the new growth is flexible and snaps cleanly, you will be ready instead of improvising on a hot afternoon.

This week in the garden

Walk the beds and note which plants a hummingbird already uses. Those are often the same salvias and penstemons that root from cuttings. Plan to take extras in May so you can thicken a nectar patch without another nursery run.

Enjoy your garden.