Digressions: My Life in 500 Words or Less

Sometimes, as the adage goes, you have only to look in your own back yard to find what you seek. Sometimes what you're looking for is right under your nose.

OK, so that sounds a lot more philosophical than the subject of this blog. This blog is about plants. And hummingbirds. Or lack thereof.

You see, many years ago, when Becca and I lived in Radcliff, we decided we wanted to attract hummingbirds to our yard. I did a little research on shrubs and flowers likely to attract them and bought and planted some. Ultimately, we did attract a stray hummingbird or two, but each time, it was a single bird on a single day each year for a couple of years.

When we moved to Elizabethtown we again began talking about attracting hummingbirds to our yard, but neither of us have ever been much into gardening. Every now and then, as at our Radcliff residence, we took on the task of planting shrubs or flowers, but that was the exception not the rule. Did I mention neither of us enjoy gardening?

We considered hanging a hummingbird feeder but worried we wouldn't keep it filled. We knew such lack of vigilance could be harmful if not fatal to avian visitors who come to depend on food sources.

Ultimately we didn't do much more than occasionally plant seeds here and there, sometimes a mix that included hummingbird-attracting flowers. Often these seeds did not germinate. Did I mention we are also generally bad gardeners?

Occasionally we'd successfully grow flowers that did not attract any hummingbirds. We still considered that a win on several levels.

At any rate, despite an occasional solitary visit over the past 13 years here at our Elizabethtown home, we have not seen hummingbirds on a regular basis. We blame ourselves. Did I mention we don't like gardening and are generally bad gardeners?

Then about a week ago, I noticed a tiny red speck on our patio, at the base of the raised concrete porch. Tiny red flowers bloomed amid a fern-like vine. Pretty, I thought.

When I used the internet to identify the plant, I discovered it was Cypress Vine, also called Hummingbird Vine by some. You guessed it, it is a known hummingbird attractant.

How it came to sprout where it did is uncertain. Becca said she remembered some Cypress Vine sprouting among the seed mix I planted a couple of years ago. Apparently seeds made their way some 25-30 feet away, carried by wind, insects, birds or some other means.

Whatever the case, I have to smile. That Cypress Vine, regardless of its fate, is just a reminder to enjoy serendipity. Irony aside, I can appreciate happy accidents.