THE PROBLEM WITH MY
MIMOSA
I’m hoping that someone
who is reading this has a solution to my problem. I have a
"non-brand-name" mimosa tree that came for free with my house and
land. I bought it last year, but I was afraid to ask the owners how old the
mimosa was. The blooms are pink and last for nearly two months between
mid-May and mid-July and draw lots of hummingbirds. However,
based on some reading I did on some Usenet, Yahoo and other miscellaneous
groups and mailing lists, I am concerned that my off-brand mimosa might not
be attracting as many hummingbirds as possible and, perhaps worse, might
actually be a *bad idea* or even hazardous for hummingbirds!
First, it has very few perches near the feeding ports. I’ve gleaned
from my research that if it had more and better placed perches, the
hummingbirds would literally flock to it, practically tripling the meager
swarm that inhabited the tree this year. Next, what few perches it has appear
to be too far from the feeding ports for the average hummingbirds. Some say
that hummingbirds are creatures of habit and eat from off-brand mimosas
simply because they are widely available and inexpensive but, if given the
choice, would prefer one of the better-designed, brand-name varieties of
mimosa. This makes a lot of sense because I know plenty of people who prefer
brand-name things to regular, no-brand or cheap brand stuff.
That my mimosa is poorly
designed is quite obvious. After just a little usenet reading I realized that
the blooms are far too vertical to allow the safe removal of nectar by the hummingbird without
injury. The blooms are so vertical that the bird in the photo at right might have injured his neck and
died right after this photo was taken. In fact, I believe that the fact that I
didn’t actually see him die, or find his body, is irrefutable evidence that he
died and was quickly eaten by some creature that eats hummingbird corpses
like a skink, gecko or praying mantis. Not satisfied that my mimosa was
effective and safe, something you just can’t tell by watching 20 or so
hummingbirds swarm around it, I have resigned myself to the fact that I will
have to cut it down for the sake of hummingbird safety.
I am also ashamed to admit
that the nectar in the mimosa may not be a perfect 4:1 ratio and sometimes
the blooms last more than a few days without any apparent nectar changing.
I’m sad to say, all the
defects that I have already mentioned pale in comparison to the number of
bees that my mimosa tree attracts! Since my off-brand mimosa doesn’t have bee
guards, and since even the smallest amount of any oil or repellant is known
to kill hummingbirds on contact, without any evidence of their bodies being
left behind (thanks to the hummingbird-corpse eating animals mentioned
above), I am at my wit’s end on how to prevent bees and other flying insects
from invading the hummingbirds’ space. What’s worse is that the hummingbirds
don’t even seem to recognize all these dangers. They just keep swarming around
my tree, sipping nectar and chasing each other around without any regard to
the perils lurking all around them! Does anyone have any recommendation for a
better-designed, name-brand mimosa that I can plant in my yard? Any guidance
will be deeply appreciated.
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