Elm Street Gardens: Hummingbirds and Moonflowers

Hummingbirds and moonflowers: How could it get any better? Both are pretty special and we’ve had plenty of both in these last weeks of summer. The record for the number of moonflower blossoms in one night so far is eleven. The hummingbirds are too numerous to count. And hard to catch in a photo.

Our moonflower vine is planted at the bottom of our back porch steps, growing up the bell pole there. Moonflowers are relatives of morning glories, but are night bloomers with large white blossoms. The white blossoms attract moths at night, which help in pollination. This is the most successful moonflower vine we’ve had here in Sparta so far. When I look at the blossoms opening, I hark back to the days when our children were young and we would all go out as the day began to fade and watch the buds start to quiver and shake and slowly open. It seemed like magic then and still does. And the big white blossoms are so appropriately named.

We had been noticing hummingbirds darting around colorful blossoms in the garden earlier in the summer, but when we finally got around to making the half sugar, half water concoction for our hummingbird feeders we realized that what we have here is more than just a few of the hummers. They are very territorial and fight over who gets to sup from the feeders. So it is great fun to be on the back porch and watch the hummers dart around competing for their turn at the feeders.

We have the best of both worlds, as one of the feeders hangs from the post with the moonflower vine while another one is very close by on the porch banister. There is just a bit of overlap at the last of day when the hummers are still coming to the feeders and the moonflowers are just opening. Makes for a perfect evening spectacle. And great summer memories.

Suzy