These Colorful Flowers Will Attract Hummingbirds to Your Yard
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Hummingbirds are the most amazing little creatures. Their aerial acrobatics are a delight to behold as they whiz by you with wings beating at 90 times per second. Another fact: These little busybodies need to eat every 10 to 15 minutes and will visit 1,000 to 2,000 flowers a day! You can entice them to stop by your own garden by planting these pretty flowers that attract hummingbirds.
While it's totally safe to put out nectar feeders to attract hummingbirds (here's the Audubon Society's approved recipe for sugar water), planting their favorite flowers is also a sure bet—and doing so will add color and life to your garden! Hummingbirds especially love orange or red flowers that are tubular in shape, but they'll visit many different kinds of every color and size, including easy-to-grow sunflowers. Annuals, perennials, and evergreen shrubs all attract these winged wonders, because they're the best pollinator plants that also attract butterflies and bees.
You also can attract and protect hummingbirds by limiting the use of pesticides in your garden. Although hummingbirds get most of their nourishment from nectar, they also hunt flying insects and spiders as part of their diets, especially during breeding season. Ahead, learn about the 17 of the best flowers that attract hummingbirds, including their preferred USDA hardiness zones and sun exposure, so you know which ones are best for your yard.
Red Columbines
This pretty perennial wildflower blooms in the spring, providing early nectar for pollinators like hummingbirds. Avoid overwatering these blooms and mulch them before the ground freezes to protect their roots.
Sun Exposure: light shade to full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 2 to 9
Daylilies
They're a favorite of hummingbirds, and they'll be a favorite of yours once you learn how low-maintenance they really are! Daylilies can survive almost anything, including drought, uneven sunlight, and poor soil.
Sun Exposure: full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 to 9
Lupines
Lupines, also known as bluebonnets, are known for their colorful spikes of tubular flowers that attract all types of pollinators, including hummingbirds. These perennials thrive in moist, sandy, well-drained soil and cool temperatures.
Sun Exposure: full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 to 8
Foxgloves
Hummingbirds and bumblebees alike love this pretty spiked flower with bell-shape blossoms! These biennials grow best in full sun and moist, well-drained soil.
Sun Exposure: light shade to full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 to 8
Hollyhocks
These pretty flowers can grow up to eight feet tall, where their brightly colored blooms attract plenty of butterflies and hummingbirds. Hollyhocks prefer full sun and evenly moist soil.
Sun Exposure: part shade to full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 9
Fuchsia
Fuchsia, also called hardy fuchsia or hummingbird fuchsia, is a striking annual with exotic-looking flowers in shades of white, pink, hot pink and purple. Hummingbirds adore this plant!
Sun Exposure: part shade
USDA Hardiness Zones: 6 to 9
Salvia
Tube-shaped flowers of pink, purple or two-tones are a favorite of hummingbirds. There are both annual and perennial types, but they both need a lot of sun.
Sun Exposure: part shade to full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 9 to 11
Bee Balm
This native plant comes in bright, saturated colors such as red and pink. Pollinators of all types enjoy visiting this perennial with its cute fringed flowers. Look for newer varieties that won’t take over your garden beds.
Sun Exposure: part sun to full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 to 8
Penstemon
This striking perennial has tall spikes with many tubular flowers, which hummingbirds prefer. The foliage may be green or burgundy, so it's a handsome plant even when not in bloom.
Sun Exposure: full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 8
Hummingbird Mint
This pretty perennial, also called agastache, has spikes of purple, deep or pale orange flowers that bloom all summer long. It’s not fussy about soils and is drought tolerant once established.
Sun Exposure: full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 10
Phlox
This tall perennial comes in many different shades of pink, white and purple. It's an old-fashioned favorite that's fragrant and reliable year after year. New varieties are more resistant to powdery mildew.
Sun Exposure: part sun to full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 8
Catmint
With silvery foliage that has a pleasant minty-spicy scent and spikes of purple flowers, this hardy perennial is a pollinator favorite that tolerates poor soils. Hummingbirds especially love catmint.
Sun Exposure: full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 8
Wishbone Flower
The delicate pink, white or purple flowers with white throats beckon hummingbirds. This annual, also called torenia, blooms all summer long until a hard frost and is especially striking in window boxes so it can cascade.
Sun Exposure: part sun to full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 10 to 11
Sunflower
This annual is a hit with all kinds of pollinators, especially bees. But hummingbirds also enjoy visiting the many different types of sunflowers for late-season nectar.
Sun Exposure: full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 2 to 11
Butterfly Bush
Just like other pollinators, hummingbirds enjoy visiting the spikes of white, pink or purple flowers on this shrub which blooms from spring to frost. Newer types are more compact so they fit in small gardens, and they're also not invasive.
Sun Exposure: full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 9
Calibrachoa
Similar to petunias in appearance, this annual has oodles of flowers that bloom from planting to a hard frost. They’re especially appealing to hummingbirds when cascading from window boxes and hanging baskets.
Sun Exposure: part shade to full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 9 to 11
Bleeding Heart
This is an old-fashioned favorite that should be in every garden! It's easy to see how the unusual flowers, which provide early season nectar to hummingbirds, got their name.
Sun Exposure: full shade to part sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 9
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