This is our hummingbird garden. There are beans climbing up the wattle, some medium sized plants that either didn't sprout or I thought they were weeds and covered them with wood chips. In front there are Nasturtiums but later I planted Borage seeds around those, so this flower garden is very crowded now. There is one Nasturtium flower and one bean flower showing here, but very hard to find.
This is a close-up of the Borage flowerbuds. They are covered with sharp thorns which appear all over the plant, like the stems and leaves. I could feel the thorns on the leaf bottoms while weeding amongst them. They're not as bad as roses or blackberries but they were pretty scratchy. That is likely the reason why the wild rabbits don't bother these plants. Another explanation is that these are not a Pacific Northwest native species so the rabbits don't know if they're good to eat.
Here's a close-up of the red and orange bean flower growing about halfway up the vine. I don't remember ever seeing a bean flower before, and if I did then it wasn't this color. This bean variety was probably selected for the red colored flowers, in order to attract hummingbirds.
Speaking of red flowers, here are our "Lucifer" flowers that really attract the hummingbirds. This is a terrible photo but I don't know how to get that brilliant red color to tone down enough to see the flowers properly. They are stunningly beautiful in person.
Here is an easier photography subject for me. It has lots of green along with the oranges and yellows in the Nasturtium flowers. This flowerbed is prolific enough that I can confidently harvest some Nasturtium leaves and flowers to spice up my lettuce and cauliflower salad. Nasturtiums have a mild peppery flavor, very much like radishes. And I think they look awesome.
This is our hummingbird garden. There are beans climbing up the wattle, some medium sized plants that either didn't sprout or I thought they were weeds and covered them with wood chips. In front there are Nasturtiums but later I planted Borage seeds around those, so this flower garden is very crowded now. There is one Nasturtium flower and one bean flower showing here, but very hard to find.
This is a close-up of the Borage flowerbuds. They are covered with sharp thorns which appear all over the plant, like the stems and leaves. I could feel the thorns on the leaf bottoms while weeding amongst them. They're not as bad as roses or blackberries but they were pretty scratchy. That is likely the reason why the wild rabbits don't bother these plants. Another explanation is that these are not a Pacific Northwest native species so the rabbits don't know if they're good to eat.
Here's a close-up of the red and orange bean flower growing about halfway up the vine. I don't remember ever seeing a bean flower before, and if I did then it wasn't this color. This bean variety was probably selected for the red colored flowers, in order to attract hummingbirds. 
Speaking of red flowers, here are our "Lucifer" flowers that really attract the hummingbirds. This is a terrible photo but I don't know how to get that brilliant red color to tone down enough to see the flowers properly. They are stunningly beautiful in person.
Here is an easier photography subject for me. It has lots of green along with the oranges and yellows in the Nasturtium flowers. This flowerbed is prolific enough that I can confidently harvest some Nasturtium leaves and flowers to spice up my lettuce and cauliflower salad. Nasturtiums have a mild peppery flavor, very much like radishes. And I think they look awesome.
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