A ruby-throated visitor

Yesterday afternoon, as I was sitting on the deck talking on the phone to my friend Beth, one of the resident hummingbirds stopped to hover directly in front of my face for about 20 seconds. It was the male, with his fiery-red throat and iridescent green back. Richard and I had watched him  one Sunday morning, a few weeks ago, flying back-and-forth in a dramatic pendulum arc above the patch of Solomon Seal. 

The hummingbirds love Solomon Seal's nectar-filled blossoms.
Richard and I harvested our share of the plant in late April, soon after the early shoots emerged from the ground. 

Solomon Seal is an edible perennial vegetable. When the shoots reach about 8 inches in height, before the leaves unfurl, they can be steamed and eaten like asparagus. Granted, it does not have the full flavor that asparagus imparts, and it soon gets too woody to eat. On the other hand, it is far less fussy than asparagus about soil conditions, grows in shade, and spreads as far as you let it. As long as you don't harvest too many shoots, the plant just sends up more to replace those you have taken. That puts it high on my "free food" ranking. It is also a beautiful plant, which is why so many people grow it as an ornamental. 

Back to the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds. I'm told they mate for life and return to the same piece of land year after year. So I feel an affinity for the pair that daily frequents our garden from spring through fall. This week, the lupines bloomed, another favorite on their menu, and they have been flitting between the Solomon Seal, whose flowers are starting to fade, and the various lupines scattered through the front beds. 

One of the benefits of replacing large swaths of grass with a far more varied array of plant life is an increase in bio-diversity at all levels -- from soil microbes to the animals and birds that this land supports. Another is the opportunity to sit eye-to-eye with a hummingbird for 20 seconds on a Friday afternoon. 

Photos (top to bottom): Solomon Seal shoots, Solomon Seal in flower, lupine with yellow squash seedling at base.