Evening star., 1932-05-12

Humming birds like bleeding hearts
The first miniature wingfarer of 1882
in our garden came to visit the pink
blossoms Of this old-fashioned favorite
The scene was "a picture no artist
could paint" alive with light and color
and motion, as the beautiful small bird
sat in the air before the heart-shaped
flowers.
Sitting in the air before blossom Is
the special province Of the humming
birds. All those familiar with this So
called jewel of the air will understand
at once what is meant.
For those whose acquaintance with
the humming bird is not as close as II
might be, or ought to be, we will say
that the typical ruhy-throat COM
mon in these parts Is able to poise him
self In the air at any point by means
Of an almost invisible motion of his
wing, so fast is it.
This gives him the appearance, liter
ally, of sitting on an air. cushion in
front Of his chosen flower. If one is
close enough he will be able to hear
the beat or "hum" of his wings, hence
the common name for this minute bird
X X X X
There Is long list Of flowers which
the humming bird Is supposed to pre-
fer, but we have never seen the old
fashioned bleeding heart, now In flower
in the border, in this listing.
Ordinarily it likes bell-shaped bios
SONS, such as those of the trumpet vine
the petunia and the gladiolus Our
choice for attracting these little feath-
cred fellows Is the latter
There Is no flower which the hum
ming bird likes as well as any one Of
the great lowered gladioh. 1t seems to
have no preference as to color, but
merely likes the shape and general
build Of the fine blossoms.
The glad" flowers bloom on a spike,
beginning at the bottom, usually sew
eral at time. Some varieties bloom an
entire spike full at once. This method
OF blossoming permits this little bird to
get a full meal with a minimum of
trouble
Even humming birds prefer the easy
meal to the difficult one.
y
There is no prettier sight in the gar
den than that off a green-feathered
humming bird, so small as to be almost
invisible except to the eye accustomed
TO watch for him, as he fits up and
down a stalk OF gladiolus blossoms in
Vac S0OA Va kllc evening.
Some people think that fragrance
would be the one quality to be added
to this particular flower to make 1t per-
feet, and step has been made in this
direction with the creation OF several
varieties which are said to have some
odor.
AS lar as we are concerned, we think
the gladiolus is about perfect as 1t is.
and that the only thing necessary to
bring it to perfection Is humming bird
in ones garden!
A queer thing about this little bird is
that it Is even more likely to visit the
strictly city garden than the suburban
one. Perhaps 1t Is not fond of other
and larger birds, and tends to shy away
from communities visited In larger
numbers by them. Whatever the reason
may be, 1t is q fact that the small city
garden is even more likely to have its
humming bird than the larger place in
the country. We have talked to more
strictly urban gardeners who know this
little fellow than residents of suburban
areas who are familiar with him. OF
course, 1t is difficult to be precise about
such matters; perhaps more city gar
deners watch out for its visits and see
it oftener there being few other birds
in average urban gardens.
If there are humming birds in the
vicinity, however, one may feel sure
that they will respond to the lure of
gladiolus blossoms. That is one of the
main reasons for planting them as early
as possible. so that one may attract
these feathered Jewels" quickly.
A good time to plant gladioluS corms
Cor bulbs, as they are more commonly
ynown is the BEGINNING of April, and
thereafter every week or two until June
/. Bulbs planted after the last of May