Hummingbird flowers and summer evenings

I love this plant (Begonia boliviensis), even if it does trick hummingbirds into visiting it. It's succulent enough to weather our dry summer heat in a hanging basket, and robust enough to grow from quite a small internet-ordered sprig into this lovely specimen within 2 months or so.

I tried to overwinter a plant inside a couple of winters ago, with no success (it got very cold in the house over winter break while we were gone that year, but perhaps we overwatered it, too).

Last year, my mail-ordered (actually internet-ordered) dormant root/corm/whatever didn't emerge, much to my disappointment.

But this year's plant is thriving.

And, warm, sultry evenings have settled in here, although we're supposed to have a respite this weekend. The mid-July sky is lovely, even if it didn't produce a thundershower.

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Hummingbird visits

In summer, hummingbirds visit the feeders and flowers in the garden. Coral honeysuckle and Salvia coccinea are favorites; each coral honeysuckle flower seems to produce nectar for a number of days, at least they're visited frequently. A female hummingbird investigated the Bolivian begonia in the hanging basket outside my study window this morning. She kept looking for the nectar in the flowers; adapted for hummingbird pollination, this begonia is one of the Andean species that relies on deception, not nectar to attract hummingbirds. Check out this link for some interesting information on hummingbirds. http://nationalzoo.si.edu/conservationandscience/migratorybirds/webcam/hummingbirds.cfm

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