At Home Red flowers to draw hummingbirds
Q: I want to plant something that’ll bloom with red flowers to encourage the hummingbirds that I’ve attracted but I don’t really want a perennial like a trumpet vine in the spot I’ve chosen. I have put up a skinny, tall trellis for support of a vine type plant so I’m ready! Any suggestions for me? — Ladera NW, Albuquerque
A: There is an annual vegetable called scarlet runner bean that’ll do just what you are suggesting. Planted from seed, this prolific pole bean plant will easily grow up the support trellis you’ve installed. The scarlet runner does offer the red-colored bloom those hummers enjoy investigating, the leaves have a lovely heart shape to them, creating a lush full but not so heavy weight that the trellis should be able to support it, and best of all the beans the plant grows are edible.
The bean pods are best harvested while they are a bit on the small side — no more than 6 inches long — but left on the plant the pods will easily grow to a length of 8 inches and longer. The beans are really pretty, too. You know how a pinto bean is colored? The beige color with darker brown mottling or spots like a pinto pony? Well, the colors of a scarlet runner bean are a pinkish mauve with dark purple mottling.
Anyway, the flowers produced by the scarlet runner are the complex shape and a brilliant red color that’ll please inquisitive hummers.
If you have enough room you could plant a penstemon (beardtongue) or an autumn sage (Salvia greggii) near the base of the runner vine to give those nectar-hunting hummers a varied diet sure to keep them healthy and happy. In the fall, after the first few killing frosts, it’s best if you can uproot and untangle the bean plant from the trellis so the area stays tidy and be ready for the next growing season.
Q: The couple of flower pots we set out aren’t as full of flowers as they were! I’d like to keep the pincushion and petunia plants blooming throughout the summer, especially for the Fourth of July party we’re going to host, so what do I need to do? — P.H., Rio Rancho
A: The two most important things you’ll want to continue doing to get and keep your color pots in full cheerful bloom is this: deadhead and water. Deadheading is the process in which you manually remove all of the spent (finished) blooms. With the pincushion and especially the petunias, you’ll want to be sure to cut off not only the flowers but the stalk that supported the blooms, too. If you take just the flower the mechanism where the bloom grew isn’t eliminated so the mother plant doesn’t think it needs to make more blooms.
Then, be sure your pots aren’t being overwatered. Too much water will kill or at least maim the roots so your plants can’t breathe properly. Sounds odd, I know, but more potted plants are killed by kindness than any other factor.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the pots shouldn’t be allowed to dry out completely either. Your aim is adequate water but not too much. Since the pots were, in theory, newly planted, the nutrition levels in the soil should be fine but if you feel the need to fertilize make sure the pots are watered first as you never fertilize dry roots.
That’s how I’d recommend you tend to your color pots, and I’ll bet they have lots of colorful flowers in time for your next party and continuing through the balance of this growing season.
Q: I planted some new shrubs and a small tree in May and have been faithful about watering them every day so they settle in. So far, all’s good. My neighbor poked his head over the fence while I was watering and said there are “rules” about how often I can water and could get in trouble with the water department! What do I do now? I still need to water my new plants! — C.A., Albuquerque
A: Don’t panic. Your neighbor is partially correct cautioning you about watering every day. The Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Authority, ABCWA, created the “water by the numbers program,” referred to as the 1-2-32-1 thought pattern, as a guideline for landscape water consumption so as a community we don’t have to implement mandatory water use restrictions.
So, with that, I’m hoping that you aren’t watering all of your landscaping when you tend to the new plants. If you are watering your established landscaping at the same time then I’ll side with your neighbor and suggest you stop that practice. But hand-watering a collection of new plantings, especially while they are settling in, is acceptable. As they settle, your aim is to work them into a regular watering schedule with the rest of your landscape.
With that, we’re now in the “3” in the ABCWA plan. For the months of June, July and August, it’s suggested that your established landscaping receive a good drink of water three times a week.
Get in the habit of monitoring plants and if they don’t need water, don’t water them. If the watering can be delayed by a day, do so.
Another thought is to be sure that the water you are applying stays where you need it to. Are the moats that surround your plantings intact so they keep the water where you apply it?
You will want to take your time and water slowly to be sure the new plants get the frequent deep drinks they need, but don’t set the hose down, walk away and forget it.
So please, responsibly continue the daily watering of your new plantings so they can get settled in and aim to water established plantings no more than three times a week until the end of August, when the program changes again.