It's a Humm Zinger..

 Without a doubt, my HummZinger Mini hummingbird feeder is my absolute favorite! I've had it for years and years.

I even shared a photo (taken a few weeks ago) of a male ruby-throat visiting the HummZinger feeder in our backyard.

I have a variety of different hummingbird feeders located around the backyard. One hangs from the deck, one from the cherry tree, one from the mulberry tree, and one from the swingset deck sitting area.

 I have been saving my pennies and finally decided to treat myself (and my hummingbirds) to some new HummZinger Mini's to replace all of my other style feeders.

When you have as many feeders as I do, cleaning them can be a chore, but not with the HummZinger! 

There are no deep crevices or tubes or ANYTHING! Just smoooooooth surfaces to wipe clean with a dishcloth. Since I'm a bit obsessive, I do use a pipe cleaner to clean the three holes if I feel they need it.

There's a little ant moat in the center that, when filled with water, keeps crawly bugs from getting into the nectar (I have a problem with ants and earwigs getting into my other feeders - ewwwww!)

 In addition to being SUPER easy to clean and "crawly" bug free, the Mini's also take a smaller portion of nectar than a lot of hummer feeders, which is good for me because we don't have a gazillion hummers visiting our feeders and drinking up all the sugar water. We're in a busy neighborhood setting and I'm very grateful for the few "regulars" that do visit our yard (usually 2 females and 1-2 males, but more during migration periods). The sugar water has to be changed often, especially in this HOT and HUMID weather, so having a Mini 8 oz. feeder suits me much better than the larger 16 oz. size (which is also available from HummZinger for those of you who get a lot more visitors!).

The HummZinger design also makes it very easy to watch the hummingbirds at the feeder because there is no cylinder or tube to obstruct the view of the feeding ports. My experience with the hummers who visit us is they often flit from port to port at the same feeder!

And another HUGE bonus - I know that a lot of you are intentionally looking for American-made products. As you can see, the HummZingers are proudly made in the USA! 

So I now have my brand new HummZinger Minis hanging from the deck...

... from the cherry tree...

... from the mulberry tree...

... and from the swing set deck sitting area.
(Even though our yard is small, I have them placed so that there are distinct feeding stations. Hummers are very territorial and will chase each other off if another hummingbird approaches the feeder they're at. By having several, I've watched several hummers sip away in peace, blissfully unaware that another hummer is on the other side of the backyard doing the same thing at a different feeder.)

This little movie was taken right before I swapped out all of my (harder to clean, larger capacity, less visibility) feeders for HummZinger Mini's.

I had been making a little video of the flag waving in the breeze for my 4th of July post when I caught our little male hummer flying in to visit the feeder in the background. Talk about great timing!

And here's a perfect example of what I mean by excellent viewing with the HummZinger Mini. Had my little friend landed on one of the ports behind the cylinder, I would not have been able to enjoy watching him! Thankfully, in this instance, he stayed in view! But with the HummZinger, that is never an issue - it's always a great view!

And let me state in closing that this is my own personal opinion based on my experiences with hummingbird feeders (I started feeding hummingbirds in the early 90's). I've not been paid or compensated by HummZinger or anyone else to write this post. They don't know me from a hole in the wall! But I thought if any of you were in the market for a Hummingbird feeder, the HummZinger or HummZinger Mini would be an excellent choice!

I hope you all have a lovely week!

This week I'm linking to My Favorite Thing Saturday at Claudia's Mockingbird Hill Cottage,
 Tweak It Tuesday at Brenda's Cozy Little House,
and the Cottage Garden Party Tracie's Fishtail Cottage.

Donna 

The cardinal climber vine loves our homemade tree branch obelisk!

 The cardinal climber is now in bloom!

What a beautiful burst of (much needed) color to our little backyard garden!

Last year I planted cardinal climber from seed. Sadly, the few vining tendrils that did take off didn't even bloom until late September, long after my hummers were gone.

 

(watercolor filter)

So this year, I purchased plants that had already been started. And yippee! They took off like a shot, quickly climbing the branches of the rustic obelisk we built last year.

Less than a week ago, the vines were covered with buds...

... but only an occasional bloom or two.

The bright red trumpet shaped flowers...

... are supposed to be very appealing to hummingbirds!

(I say supposed to be because I've not seen a single hummer at the vine yet!)

But now that more and more flowers are blooming, I'm sure my little friends will take notice.

These should bloom until the first frost...

... long after my hummer friends are gone.

A photo from last week, before the vines started blooming. 

Here the focus is on the cardinal climber in the background...

...and here, the focus shifts to the purple flowers in the foreground (on the deck).

And if the hummers do get tired of hovering at the blooms once they've discovered them, they can always take a rest on one of the feeders. Right now, this feeder hangs from our deck...

This one from the cherry tree...

This one from the mulberry tree...

And lastly, this feeder hangs from the swing set deck.

Last week I switched the various feeders around a bit. I had just finished hanging this feeder from the swing set deck when a hungry male ruby-throat zeroed in on it. Luckily I had camera in hand!

He shifted positions a few times, looking right at me in this photo, before going back to sipping the sugar water. I so enjoy these little visitors!!

We are in the middle of a heat wave here in the Northeast so I'm filling all of my bird baths twice a day. Hopefully the muggy weather and high temps will take leave soon!

I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

This week I'm joining Claudia, Mockingbird Hill Cottage for A Favorite Thing Saturday,
Brenda, Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday,

Tracie, Fishtail Cottage for Cottage Garden Party

and Cindy, My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday

Donna

A Fuchsia Sunset...

The last few hours before the sun sets are my absolute favorite.

This is the view when I'm sitting on the patio down in the backyard...

I usually sit on the settee in the center because it's easy to see both of my hummingbird feeders from there, and the hours before sunset are the most active for these little jeweled birds!

I can see the feeder that hangs from the mulberry tree...

(being visited by the female hummer here)...

.. and the one that hangs from the swingset deck sitting area next to the honeysuckle vine

(being visited by the male hummer here).

The patio becomes an almost magical place to sit and unwind as the sun starts to set...

The fuchsia plants that hang from the tent over the patio are brilliant as the sun streams through the blossoms.

I'm always amazed that the hummingbirds pay little attention to the fuchsias. They occasionally visit them, but definitely seem to prefer the feeders and the honeysuckle vine.

I tried planting cardinal climber from seed last year, but they hadn't even flowered by the time the hummingbirds left in September...

... so this year I bought well-established plants to climb the small twig obelisk we made last year. I certainly hope these flower long before the hummers leave in September!

My beautiful irises put on a spectacular show this year.

These photos were taken at the very end of May, when they were at their peak.

Their bloom time has now come to an end. I desperately need to plant more perennials that bloom later in the season. Other than some annuals and my honeysuckle vine that give summer-long color, it seems that most of the perennials I've planted are early bloomers. But all in good time...

After all, it was only 5 to 6 years ago that the backyard looked like this. We were left with a large crater after taking down our old above ground pool.

So rather than focus on how much still needs to be done, I think I'd rather reflect on how much we've accomplished over the past several years, transforming the "Roswell crater" into a little garden oasis that attracts a wide variety of birds and little critters (my beloved "Sammy" Squirrels and "Chip"munks!). The fact that they all make their homes in our garden and/or visit us on a regular basis makes me oh-so-happy!

Wishing you all a beautiful week...

I'm joining Claudia, Mockingbird Hill Cottage for A Favorite Thing Saturday,

Brenda, Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday.

Tracie, Fishtail Cottage for Cottage Garden Party
and Cindy, My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday.

Donna

Hummingbirds and honeysuckle vines....

Honeysuckle is my way of thanking the hummingbirds who visit our little backyard.

 They provide so much entertainment for us that back in May, I bought three more Major Wheeler honeysuckle vines for them.

We planted one at the base of the arbor by our backyard gate.

With any luck it will climb over the arbor and I'll be able to watch the hummingbirds who visit it from the deck or the dining room window.

We planted the other two on the front posts of our swingset deck sitting area.

One of the vines was planted on a post right next to the honeysuckle vine that is already growing on our homemade obelisk.

We're hoping that in a few years' time, the honeysuckle vines will grow up the front posts and then start traveling across the old monkey bars!

 While the hummingbirds do visit the hanging fuchsias on the patio, they definitely seem to prefer the honeysuckle.

Of course they also love their feeders, so I always make sure we have fresh sugar water for them. This single feeder hangs from the swingset.

A larger feeder hangs from our mulberry tree. The arrow is pointing to the female hummer resting on one of the branches...

... right before she visited the feeder (how I'd love to have a telescopic camera lens!)

The third feeder hangs from our deck...

... and, as you can see, Mrs. Hummingbird was enjoying her sugar water when I took this photo last week.

 

Photos of our honeysuckle vine on April 28th (left), May 2nd (right)...

... and then a photo taken this evening.

Our oppressive (hot AND muggy) weather has broken and it's been glorious - mid 70's and dry, so I really enjoyed my time in the back yard after supper tonight. And while sitting on the swingset deck I was able to catch videos of both the male and female hummers at the honeysuckle vine (within minutes of each other)...

The male stopped by first...

...  and then the female paid a visit.

One more that I shot of the male.
(You can really see his ruby red throat at the 32 second mark!)

I know I've shared this in the past, but here's a quick way to make sugar water for your hummingbird feeders. It cools down in a fraction of the time that it takes the normal recipe to cool off!

Quick Hummer Solution: Put 1 cup water in saucepan. Put 1 cup sugar in saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon to dissolve sugar. As soon as it starts to boil turn off the burner. Add 3 cups very cold water to the sugar solution and stir. And that's it!  Now it will still need to cool down before you fill your feeders (I always check it with my finger to make sure it has cooled enough), but it's just ready so much quicker than boiling the entire 4 parts of water and then having to wait for all 4 parts of water to cool!

I'm linking to Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home this week.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Donna