Last Friday I was out in the garden between the spring showers weeding and working my compost piles when I heard the familiar chit-chit-chit-chit-chit of a hummingbird. I immediately held still and began to follow the sounds with my eyes hopeful to see my first hummingbird of spring.  When my eyes feasted on the tiny bundle of movement, I discovered it was a female Rufous Hummingbird.

She hovered above a laurel bush and then promptly landed on a large horizontal leaf for a spirited and joyful splashing in the raindrops. She then moved to another leaf and repeated the ritual. What a perfect joy to watch that feisty little bird bathing in the precious raindrops captured in the laurel leaves.

The Rufous Hummingbirds return to the Northwest in March when the wild current bushes are blooming and spend the spring, summer and fall feasting on the nectar of the lush flowers so abundant here in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

I am always anxious to plant these two terra cotta wall planters that I have hung under one of the front south windows. This year I chose orange pansies and an orange-red ranunculus. I know this might seem overly simple, but it is always so effective to simply choose a color and then plant different flowers in that color or color range. This creates a simple and stunning show of a unified flower combination. I much prefer this to a little of this and a little of that.