Which Plants Attract Hummingbirds

3 to 8 inches tall and 10 to 30 inches wide.

The 24 Best Hummingbird Flowers

Is there anything more magical than watching a hummingbird, seemingly suspended in midair, dip its long beak into a flower? Sometimes you’ll hear these tiny birds before you see them, their wings making a distinctive whirring sound. When two or more appear together, you may hear the sharp “chattering” as they swoop and dive in a series of aggressive, aerial maneuvers. It’s no wonder that gardeners love to encourage these remarkable acrobats into their gardens.

What flowers do hummingbirds like?

Hummingbirds are primarily attracted to long tubular flowers that are red, but are frequently seen visiting other flowers with bright colors that are orange, yellow, purple, or even blue, giving you plenty to choose from. Keep in mind that many double-flowered forms aren’t accessible to pollinators.

Here are some of our favorite flowers that attract hummingbirds:

ANNUAL FLOWERS FOR HUMMINGBIRDS

Supertunia® Vista Bubblegum. Photo by Proven Winners.

PETUNIA

Perhaps the most popular annual with gardeners, these are also a favorite of hummingbirds and bees with their large, trumpet-shaped blooms. The flowers are available in every color from white to black, including speckled, spotted, and striped varieties, as well as both single and double-flowered forms.

Zones:

Height/Spread:

6 to 10 inches tall and 10 to 30 inches wide

Plants to Try:

Supertunia® Vista Bubblegum (pictured), Crazytunia Mandeville, Surfinia Red

Superbells® Lemon Slice®. Photo by Proven Winners.

CALIBRACHOA

If you want the vibrant color punch of a petunia with even less maintenance, Calibrachoa, also called Superbells® and Million Bells®, may be the answer. Like their larger cousins, these are available in every color of the rainbow with both single and double flower forms. Choose from compact or trailing varieties.

Zones:

Height/Spread:

3 to 8 inches tall and 10 to 30 inches wide.

Plants to Try:

Superbells® Lemon Slice (pictured), Cruze Yellow Red Eye, Million Bells Trailing Blue

Read more about how to grow Calibrachoa.

Tiny Mice® cuphea. Photo by Proven Winners.

ANNUAL CUPHEA

Include cuphea in all your summer designs if only to amuse children of all ages! Visiting hummingbirds will certainly add to the fun factor! Flower shapes include varieties that resemble the faces of tiny mice, as well as more traditional forms and elongated tubes. Tuck into hanging baskets, window boxes, and containers.

Zones:

Height/Spread:

8 to 28 inches tall and 12 to 24 inches wide

Plants to Try:

Tiny Mice® (pictured), ‘Flamenco Samba’, Vermillionaire®, Bat Face

Which Plants Attract Hummingbirds?

Attract hummingbirds with this list of plants that they’ll find delicious.

Hummingbirds Like These Plants Best!

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Plants that attract hummingbirds have nectar-rich flowers! See which plants hummingbirds like—and will keep these tiny flyers coming back for more!

For centuries, gardeners have been fascinated with the beauty and aerobatics of these flying jewels.

Read Next

Flowers that Attract Hummingbirds

Brightly-colored flowers that are tubular tend to produce the most nectar, and are particularly attractive to hummingbirds. These include perennials such as bee balms, columbines, daylilies, and lupines; biennials such as foxgloves and hollyhocks; and many annuals, including cleomes, impatiens, and petunias.

Here’s a list of flowering plants that attract hummingbirds. Choose varieties in red and orange shades.

Common Name	Latin Name
Beard tongue	Penstemon
Bee balm	Monarda
Butterfly bush	Buddleia
Catmint	Nepeta
Clove pink	Dianthus
Columbine	Aquilegia
Coral bells	Heuchera
Daylily	Hemerocallis
Larkspur	Delphinium
Desert candle	Yucca
Iris	Iris
Flowering tobacco	Nicotiana alata
Foxglove	Digitalis
Lily	Lilium
Lupine	Lupinus
Pentas	Pentas
Petunia	Petunia
Pincushion flower	Scabiosa
Red-hot poker	Kniphofia
Scarlet sage	Salvia splendens
Scarlet trumpet honeysuckle	Lonicera sempervirens
Soapwort	Saponaria
Summer phlox	Phlox paniculata
Verbena	Verbena
Weigela	Weigela

Creating a Hummingbird-Friendly Yard

Hummingbirds also need a habitat that will give them food, water, shelter, and security. Here’s what attracts hummingbirds:

• Provide lots of space between plants to give hummingbirds enough room to hover and navigate from flower to flower.
• Hummingbirds need shade. Herbs, flowering shrubs, dwarf trees, and vines can all be used to create an ideal tiered habitat from ground level to 10 feet or more.
• Hummingbirds love water, especially if it’s moving. A gentle, continuous spray from a nozzle or a sprinkler hose is perfect for a bath on the fly.
• Hummingbirds do not have a keen sense of smell and rely on bright colors to find their food. They are particularly fond of red and are often observed investigating feeders with red parts, red plant labels, red thermometers, and even red clothes on a gardener.

Note: Do not use red dye in a hummingbird feeder; there is concern that it may harm the birds. Instead, use plain, clear sugar water (1 part white sugar mixed with 4 parts water). The birds love it! If your feeder does not have red on it, attach a red label or other item to attract them.

An often-asked question is, “Why do hummingbirds hum?” We can’t say for certain, but suspect that it might be because they don’t know the words! All jokes aside, the real answer is that hummingbirds are capable of beating their wings up to 80 beats per second, producing a buzz audible to human ears.

Fun Facts About Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are one of the most interesting birds! Here are some fun facts about these little birds:

• Bee hummingbirds are the tiniest of all birds, weighing less than an ounce and measuring only 2 inches long.
• Their brightly-colored, iridescent feathers and quick movements make them appear to be living sun catchers—hence one nickname, “flying jewels.”
• Hummingbirds have the unique ability to fly in any direction, even backward, with their wings beating up to a blurring 80 beats per second.
• They can hover in mid-air when sipping nectar from brightly–colored flowers with their long, slender beaks.
• While whizzing about the garden, hummingbirds expend so much energy that they must eat at least half their body weight each day to replace the calories that they burn up. This means eating almost constantly—from sunrise to sunset—and visiting over a thousand flowers every day.
• You can hear the call of a ruby-throated hummingbird here.

Learn More

• Many of the plants that attract hummingbirds also attract butterflies. Learn more about attracting butterflies to your garden.

Do you have hummingbirds or other birds in your garden? Let us know in the comments below!