6 Plants and Flowers That Will Attract Hummingbirds to Your Garden

Step 2

Designing A Hummingbird Garden: 15 Ways to Keep Them Coming

The DIY community that thrives on the Internet brings me a lot of joy, and no small feeling of accomplishment when I complete a project requiring learning an entirely new skill set. For example, I recently learned how to weave a chair seat just by following the online instructions. Of course, DIY projects go far beyond chair-seat weaving. Bird lovers can find step-by-step instructions to making bird feeders and bird houses. If you have a green thumb, love digging in the dirt, and love providing habitat and food for hummingbirds, Audubon’s Steve Kress has ideas for you! Read on for steps to create the perfect hummingbird habitat in your yard.

Originally published by Brooklyn Botanic Garden in Hummingbird Gardens. Reproduced here with permission.

Hummingbirds prefer openings in the forest and forest edge, and so are readily drawn to suburban and rural gardens that offer a mix of tall trees, shrubs, and patches of meadow and lawn. They are less likely to frequent cities, perhaps because they find fewer flowering plants for food and trees for nesting. Yet even in the largest cities, hummingbirds occupy parks and sometimes visit window boxes or rooftop gardens planted with bright flowers, especially during migration.

Once hummingbirds discover your property, the same individuals are likely to return each year at about the same time; they are remarkable creatures of habit. The number of hummingbirds that frequent your yard is closely linked to the abundance of food, water, nesting sites, and perches. Following are 15 practical Steps you can take to create an ideal hummingbird garden.

Step 1

Draw a sketch of your yard, indicating the location of the house and outbuildings such as garages and tool sheds. Include trees, shrubs, existing flower beds, and other features likely to benefit hummingbirds. Work with these existing features, enhancing them with additional plantings.

Step 2

Using your landscape sketch, find a good spot to be the focus of your hummingbird garden. A site near a window or patio door will give you a front seat on the action. Hummingbird gardens need not be large—even a flower box or trellis will do. Gardens planted exclusively with hummingbird plants will attract more birds, but even a few choice plants added to existing gardens will feed some hummers.

Step 3

Think vertically when planning your hummingbird garden. Use trellises, trees, garden sheds, or other structures to support climbing vines; add window boxes, wooden tubs, or ceramic pots to create a terraced effect and provide growing places for a variety of plants.

Step 4

Select native plants for your garden. Learn which plants hummingbirds feed on in natural areas near your home. Native hummingbird plants and local hummingbird species have a long association in which plants serve as a reliable source of nectar at the same time each year. Keep in mind that cultivated varieties of impatiens and rhododendrons may look promising, but have little value to hummingbirds; these are selected for flower size, color, and shape, but are not good nectar producers. Do not plant exotic flowering plants, such as Japanese and tartarian honeysuckles, which are attractive to hummingbirds but invade neighboring fields and woodlands, crowding out more beneficial native shrubs and wildflowers.

Step 5

Choose red, tubular flowers, as these are quick clues to a flower’s value as a hummingbird food supply. Hummingbirds are also attracted to orange and pink flowers, but they find yellow and white blooms less attractive. Red, non-tubular flowers such as roses and geraniums may lure hummingbirds with their blooms, but they offer little nectar, so the birds quickly reject them. Flowers that rely on sweet scents to attract insect pollinators usually do not provide a nectar source for hummingbirds.

Step 6

Plant patches of the same species (three or more plants) to provide larger quantities of nectar.

Step 7

Select plants that bloom at different times of the year to provide nectar throughout the hummingbird season.

Step 8

Prune your plants to prevent excessive woody growth and instead favor production of flowers.

Step 9

Learn about local hummingbird habits and which species are likely to occur near your home. Study the migration dates, nesting season, and seasonal presence. This knowledge will help you select plants that will bloom during the time that hummingbirds are likely to visit your yard.

Step 10

Include some fuzzy plants. Hummingbirds usually line their nest with soft plant fibers. Two favorites are cinnamon fern, which has a fuzzy stem, and pussy willow. Leave some thistle and dandelion, other favorite nest-building materials, in your yard.

Step 11

Provide water baths. Like most birds, hummingbirds frequently bathe in shallow water—even in the drops that collect on leaves. Hummingbirds may sit and fluff and preen or flit through the droplets generated by garden misters, drip fountain devices, and small waterfalls; these are available at many garden shops.

Step 12

If your garden does not include trees or shrubs and there are none nearby, position perches within 10 to 20 feet of the garden. As a substitute for a live perch, use a dead branch with small twigs (keep in mind the tiny size of hummingbird toes).

Step 13

Large trees are often used for perches, as springboards for courtship displays, and for nesting. The trunks of large trees also provide hummingbirds a source of lichens—a camouflaging decoration that some species attach to the outsides of their nests with spider silk. If space permits, plant a large tree such as a maple or oak. If you have a smaller yard, plant smaller trees that can provide nest sites and serve as food sources.

Step 14

Be persistent. Hummingbirds may appear minutes after you set out inviting plants, but sometimes it takes several weeks before they chance on your garden. Even with luscious red flowers as bait, pure chance may keep your feeder a secret until the first migrant discovers it. Once hummingbirds do start visiting your garden, they are likely to continue throughout the season and will usually return the following year. If visits drop off for a week or two in midsummer, the reason may be that an especially attractive nearby flower patch may have temporarily diverted your hummingbirds.

Step 15

Avoid insecticides. Hummingbirds can ingest poisons when they eat insects; systemic herbicides can also be found in flower nectar.

Birds Tell Us to Act on Climate

Pledge to stand with Audubon to call on elected officials to listen to science and work towards climate solutions.

6 Plants and Flowers That Will Attract Hummingbirds to Your Garden

Hummingbirds might be tiny, but they have hearty appetites and get their fill from a myriad of common garden species. In fact, it is thought that many plants, particularly narrow and tubular varieties, have evolved over time to accommodate their long, slender bills. “Some flowers are so narrow, they can only be pollinated by hummingbirds!” says Paddy Cunningham, birding expert at Bonnet House Museum and Gardens in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

If you have been trying to lure these birds into your garden without much success, you may be wondering which flowers attract hummingbirds. According to George Pisegna, deputy director and chief of horticulture at The Horticultural Society of New York in Manhattan, you must have some trees, shrubs, or vines nearby to create shelter and a sense of security. “The garden needs to have enough open space for the hummingbird to navigate from flower to flower, have brightly colored flowers (particularly red) that are tubular, and water, as hummingbirds love a gentle, continuous spray,” he says.

Daylily

This bold and colorful flower is known for its trumpet-like shape, which comes in handy for hummingbirds as it allows them to reach the inside nectar more easily. This flower thrives in spring and fall, according to Lester Poole, Lowe’s live nursery expert, and grows best in areas that receive at least six hours of direct sunlight.

• Trumpet-like shape
• Spring and fall bloom time
• Thrives in zones 3 through 9

Columbine

“This perennial is a cheerful plant with clover-shaped foliage and thin, airy, tubular stems,” says Valerie Ghitelman, vice president of product development and design at 1-800-Flowers.com. “Its flowers bloom in a wide range of colors such as red, yellow, white, blue, lavender, pink, and salmon.” Hummingbirds tend to love columbines because they stick around—they’re drought-resistant and don’t require much water.

• Perennial flower
• Lots of floral colorways, including red, yellow, white, blue, lavender, pink, and salmon
• Drought-resistant
• Thrives in zones 3 through 8

Sage

You’re probably most familiar with this plant—which grows as a hardy perennial in zones 5 to 8 and an annual in more humid climates (like zones 9 and 10)—for its use in the kitchen. Its family contains mints, basil, and salvias in a tremendous array of sizes and colors. “All provide long-lasting nectar sources, and by staggering the annual forms and the perennial forms, you can have season-long nectar sources,” says Poole. “Pineapple sage is a super source for hummingbirds, with large quantities of scarlet, tube-like blossoms throughout the summer and fall.”

• Sage family includes mint, basil, and salvia
• Hummingbirds prefer pineapple sage, which has scarlet flowers
• Thrives as a perennial in zones 5 through 8
• Can be grown as annuals in zones 9 and 10

Lantana

Another flower that attracts hummingbirds is the tubular lantana, which comes in a variety of colors—most often yellow and purple. Because they are not likely to be grazed upon, they are left untouched for the hummingbird; they come back year after year in zones 7 and above (in cooler regions, they’re a one-and-done plant). “Lantanas are not only a three-toned showstopper, they’re able to survive periods of limited water supply, making them extremely easy to care for,” says Poole. “Lantanas are best suited for planting in warmer climates, as they grow best in hot, dry weather with a minimum of six hours of direct sun.”

• Easy to grow and maintain
• Yellow-and-purple colorways
• Tri-colored petals
• Deer- and drought-resistant
• Thrives as a perennial in zones 7 and above
• Can be grown as an annual in cooler zones

Honeysuckle

Also a tubular flower, honeysuckle is a hummingbird magnet for its sweet nectar, as the name of this vining bloom suggests. “Hummingbirds adore these open-mouthed florals and are even more attracted to their bright red-toned petals, which flower on and off throughout the year,” says Poole. “These flowers prefer full, direct sun and grow extremely fast.”

• Tubular flower that grows quickly on vines
• Bright red petals that flower throughout the year
• Prefers full sun
• Thrives in zones 5 through 9

Pentas

These gorgeous bedding plants love the heat and are fairly inexpensive, but can produce numerous flowers in a variety of colors and sizes for a few years, says Cunningham. “Pentas have almost continuous blooms and can be used to edge beds in the smaller varieties or small bushes in the larger varieties,” she says. “They can also be put into pots and hanging baskets for balconies and porches to attract hummingbirds.”

• Bedding plant that comes in a variety of colors and sizes
• Produces continuous blooms
• Best for border gardens and edge beds
• Can be grown in pots, baskets, and containers
• Thrives in zones 10 and 11