Hoy Meeting: Hummingbirds

Guest speakers: Kathy and Michael Rock

Learn how to create a sanctuary for the Ruby-throated Hummingbird in your own backyard. Through the use of perennial and annual plants, wildflowers, shrubs, trees, water features, and hummingbird feeders, you can discover the magic and excitement of hummingbirds!

Hummingbirds and wildlife gardening have been Michael and Kathi’s passion and interest for the past 24 years. When they first started out, they had one hummingbird feeder, a pot of Salvia splendens, and a city yard filled with trees, grass and hummingbird unfriendly shrubbery. That first year it took them until August to see their first hummingbird and after that, they were hooked!

It grew from there and now they have a yard filled with the best and many unusual flowers, including 50+ varieties of salvias (learning about and the challenge of growing tropical salvias that attract hummingbirds is a special interest!). They also hang about 20 feeders at the height of migration in mid-September.

Michael and Kathi wanted to take their enthusiasm and knowledge and share it with the community and they have been presenting a “Gardening for Hummingbirds” program for about 22 years now. They have talked to countless groups in the Upper Midwest and beyond and presented their program at the Sedona Hummingbird Festival.

They have presented at their program at the Wisconsin Public Television Garden Expo for over a decade and the Chicago Garden and Flower Show for five years. A few other familiar venues for their program include the Wild Birds Unlimited, Audubon Societies, and Master Gardener Clubs. Additionally, they have recently been featured in a short film called “A Place In The Garden.” They offer a public Hummingbird Garden Tour of their yard every September.