Today was the first day of school in the elementary building where I am the librarian. Our second grade garden club has put in a garden the last few years and since I'm in charge, of course there are lots of hummingbird favorites. This afternoon a first grade class was having their pictures taken in front of the garden (it does make a great backdrop for those cheery faces) when I heard a lot of kids excited about something. I looked out the window and they were all pointing at a hummingbird feeding at the scarlet runner beans. Even with 22 noisy, wiggly children a few feet away, the hummer just kept right on going to every blossom. It stayed several minutes.

I met the class as they came back into the building and asked the children who had never seen a hummingbird before to raise their hands. Most of the hands went up. I felt great because that was one of my goals and made all of the effort (and fun of planting with children) even more worth it!

Carol WNY
Amherst, NY
Zone 5

Sweet! I bet they'll remember that experience for a long time.

Joan Garvey - Metairie, LA Zone 9

Congratulations Carol! You must have been so excited to see that. What a treat for those kids their first day back at school. Nice to hear that they got to see a hummer and for some for the first time, thanks to you. So Cool!

Roxy
West Niagara,
Southern Ontario
Canadian Hardiness Zone 6b

How wonderful and exciting for you! I keep telling my gk's that I'm going to make bird lovers of them all! It's an amazing hobby and I'm hoping it will carry over to their adult lives and they can take over where I leave off!!

Congrats on a job well done!

glo
Zone 5 8500 ft up the Mountain in Colorado!

Carol,
Your post sure brought a big smile to my face and I know it did to yours too when you saw all those excited children. There is nothing more rewarding. The kids here in the Tonawandas don't go back to school until Sept. 8th

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Carol, thats awesome--- Although many things will take preference in their minds as they grow older, I bet somewhere in those minds will be that mind photo of that hummingbird and I too hope there will be some future hummer enthusiasts in the group.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Great story Carol. I tried to remember the first time I saw a hummingbird but I just can't bring it to mind. One thing I can picture is the kids in your story, so you told it well.

We get a number of asian families visit us and few if any have ever seen hummingbirds. Their reactions are priceless and range from fascination to fear.

Thanks for sharing such a great image.

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Farmer Steve
Deluz, CA usda zone 10a

Congratulations, Carol! The kids must be delighted with the garden and the hummer.

Priya
Zone 7, Maryland

Carol,

That's a wonderful story! I think it's great that you have the hummingbird garden at school. The children will have many happy memories from the garden.

I think you told us once about a weeder that you use in the garden. I bought it after hearing about it here, and I love it too.

Carol

Carol R
Tennessee
USDA Hardiness Zone 7
Heat Zone 7