A Weekend Gardener in the Bluegrass: Hummingbird Festival

Monday, August 30, 2010

Hummingbird Festival

This past Saturday was the 3rd annual Hummingbird Festival at Yew Dell Gardens in Crestwood, KY. Yew Dell is the former estate of the late commercial nurseryman Theodore Kline. It has been reopened as a horticultural display, education and research center for the region. There is a link to Yew Dell in the "links" section of my blog. Check it out. It is a very interesting place!

At the festival, trained volunteers were catching hummingbirds and banding them for tracking purposes. It was fascinating to watch the tiny creatures up close and personal. The volunteers took each bird's measurements and put a tiny band on the bird's leg. It was very intricate work! The birds were then released and they flew on their merry way.

Some interesting facts about ruby-throated hummingbirds:

adult females are slightly larger than adult males
they weigh less than a nickel but may double in weight prior to migration
they can fly hundreds of miles non-stop (500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico)
they live about 4-5 years if they survive the first year
they eat their weight in nectar or sugar water and insects each day

So, I plan to keep feeding the hummingbirds in my yard because they usually return to the same location the next year. They are truly remarkable creatures and so interesting to watch!

Here are a couple of pictures of a female hummingbird in the hands of a trained volunteer at Yew Dell :

4 comments:

Carolyn ♥ said...: Very interesting post... I love our Hummingbirds!; September 1, 2010 at 12:04 AM
Ginny said...: I love to watch the hummers come to the feeders and to the nectar plants. I've heard of hummingbirds that are so friendly they'll follow you into the house to refill the feeder - but mine aren't that bold. This sounds like a fun event!; September 2, 2010 at 10:48 AM
Jim said...: Thanks Meredehuit! Yes, they truly are amazing little creatures :)

Jim; September 6, 2010 at 11:23 PM
Jim said...: Ginny, I'm glad you liked the post about the hummingbird festival. It was very interesting. Maybe next year it won't be so hot.

Jim; September 6, 2010 at 11:27 PM

Post a Comment

ABIGAIL'S GARDEN

My interest in gardening began several years ago when we buried a pet cat named Abigail near a big holly tree in our back yard.

How we wound up with Abigail is an interesting story. Our next-door neighbor, Roberta, lived alone for many years with her houseplants and assorted cats. We were never really quite sure just how many cats she had! Roberta was an excellent gardener who took great pride in her flowers, especially her roses. She offered me lots of advice, from across the fence, on how to prune my roses, when to plant annuals, and other unsolicited tidbits of useful and not-so-useful information.

Roberta died after several years of declining health. Her son and daughter-in-law were left with the task of finding homes for all of the cats. Quite some time after Roberta died, we began seeing one of her cats, a beautiful white cat, in our back yard. The cat especially seemed to like the area near the big holly tree in the corner of the yard.

We found out from Roberta's daughter-in-law that the cat's name was Abigail. She and her husband had been unsuccessful in "catching" Abigail. She appreciated the fact that we were concerned about Abigail, and she told us we could keep her if we were able to capture and civilize her.

So, we began putting food out for Abigail and made efforts to befriend her. She was extremely wary of us. Little by little, Abigail gained our trust, and we were eventually able to coax her inside. She was very thin and frail. We took her to the vet where she was cleaned up and completely checked out and treated by the vet. The vet told us that Abigail was not in very good physical condition.

Nevertheless, we brought her home in the summer of 1995. Unfortunately, the medical treatment came too late for Abigail and within a few days, she died.

We buried Abigail in the back yard in her favorite spot near the holly tree. The next spring, I decided to plant a few annuals to brighten things up a bit. Later, I added a concrete cat statue to mark her burial place.

As time passed, I envisioned creating a seating area in Abigail's garden. I added a concrete bench, planted a few daylilies, hostas, coreopsis and Asiatic lilies.

One summer, I got the inspiration to add a circular brick patio to Abigail’s garden. The back yard is on a hillside with very little level ground. So, little by little, I began shoveling out the area for the new patio.

Since I knew nothing about building a patio, I hired a young landscaper to build it for me. He informed me that he had never built a circular patio, but he promised me he could do it. I was a bit concerned when, one day, I looked out the window and realized he was reading instructions on how to build a patio!

But, as promised, he eventually got the patio built. He added a pathway made of pea gravel and stepping stones to connect the new patio to the existing side patio.

Although the new patio looked good, it was not very functional. I felt it needed to be larger in diameter, and I was unhappy with the way the pathway looked. So,the next spring, I hired the same landscaper to expand the patio. He removed the retaining wall he had built the previous summer, dug deeper into the hillside, added a few more rows of pavers, and then rebuilt the retaining wall. He also rebuilt the gravel pathway with red brick pavers to match the “new and improved” circular patio.

Finally, I had the look I wanted! The addition of a round wrought iron umbrella-table and chairs provided some much-needed seating. Of course, the patio area needed landscaping, and I decided I could do it myself to save money. Little did I know what I was getting myself into! I mulched (and mulched some more!), planted lirope, hostas, and daylilies as well as impatiens, begonias and other assorted annuals. And, as the saying goes, "the rest is history".

What began as a tribute to a lonely stray cat has blossomed into my passion for gardening. Abigail's burial marker now stands proudly amid the perennials and the ornamental grasses. In fact, the fountain grass has grown so much that it covers her up in the summertime. I’m sure she would find it a great place to hide!

Each spring, you will find me trimming the fountain grass, thinning out the hostas, pulling up weeds, separating the daylilies, and planting even more flowers. It's a never-ending job, but that's what makes gardening so much fun. (That's what I tell myself the next day when I can barely get out of bed because of my aching muscles!)

Thanks Abigail for giving me inspiration. I hope you approve of your garden!