I’ve decided to try for hummingbirds again. It’s a big risk, on my balcony. I’ve finally succeeded in staving off most of the ants. Got rid of plants they liked, spread DE everywhere they congregate and around flowerpot bases, crush them whenever I see them. I recently discovered a huge aphid nursery on my mandevilla, which they didn’t bother at all last year. But this year, a valiant attempt was made to establish a big one… putting all their eggs in one basket, in other words. They were ugly little orange things, just covering stems here and there. I cut off the worst stems and then combed the whole plant, rubbing and squishing the orange nasties whenever I came across them. Haven’t seen them since that day, and the ants backed off too.
Bwaaahaha!
But I bought a new hummingbird feeder because I so enjoyed the hummingbirds in years past. It’s one that doesn’t drip and it has a built-in ant moat. I know the ants are going to smell it, and I’m deluding myself. Somehow they will get to it. But a tiny part of me believes and so I’m the Little Engine That Could.
No hummingbirds yet, but I think it’s early in the season yet.
Happy summer solstice by the way!
