Learn about the Best Plants for Hummingbirds to lure these beautiful pollinators into your garden with attractive flowers!
Hummingbirds are the smallest birds, holding a record for flapping their wings at an astonishing pace. Imagine having a garden, where you could attract these birds and watch them fluttering and feasting on flowers! Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Here’s a list of the best plants for hummingbirds you must check out!
1. Bee Balm
What makes bee balm a perfect choice for both hummingbirds and your garden, is its spherical shape with spikes. The plant is also known as bergamot, horsemint, and monarda. It thrives best in direct sunlight. With cultivars in colors of pink, orange, red, and purple; it attracts the attention of hummingbirds and butterflies, both.
2. Cardinal Flower
It is one of the best plants to attract many hummingbirds to your garden. It is also called ‘lobelia’ and has long flowers with stalks, growing up to 48 inches tall. The plant thrives well in moist but well-drained soil. With flowers full of nectar in vibrant red colour, it’ll surely attract these beautiful creatures!
3. Zinnia
An easy to grow plant, zinnia produces flowers from late summers to mid-fall. Same time, when hummingbirds migrate. Its flowers are in shades of deep orange, yellow, red, white, and purple. You can also plant it in containers quite easily. As the plant also develops seeds, it will also tempt seed-feeding birds to your garden.
4. Salvia
What makes the salvia plant unique is its tall spikes with bright flowers, right in the middle. The flowers have a deep tint of blue and purple, growing around mid-summer till the end. The plant enjoys a lot of sunlight and keeps on growing every year, and becoming charming for hummingbirds!
5. Bleeding Hearts
This plant wins the award for producing one of the best-looking flowers on this list. Dangling, heart-shaped flowers in white and pink flowers lure hummingbirds. The plant thrives best in shades and grows up to 30-35 inches tall.
6. Butterfly Bush
As its name suggests, the plant is home to attracting butterflies, but it is equally potent in grabbing the attention of hummingbirds as well. Its flowers grow from mid-summer to fall in shades of purple, pink, and blue, in elongated clusters. It loves to be in direct sunlight. As the plant develops into a thick shrub, it offers shelter to birds as well.
7. Trumpet Creeper
Also known as the hummingbird vine, this plant can easily overgrow, covering the garden in no time. Its foliage is long and dense, with tubular flowers that are orange, red, and yellow in colour, grabbing the attention of hummingbirds, to enjoy the nectar. The plant loves to be in the right mix of sunlight and shade and thrives well in it.
8. Lupine
Early morning flowers of this plant appear in shades of blue, purple, white, pink and yellow; setting it apart from the rest of plants on this list. It allures hummingbirds to your garden at the start of the day. The plant enjoys full sunlight and thrives best in it.
9. Columbine
Columbine derives its name from a Latin word ‘Columba.’ It produces vibrant looking flowers in blue, purple, and pink shades. The plant enjoys the shade, growing up to 20 inches tall. Also, thanks to its beautiful flowers, this is one of the best plants that attract hummingbirds.
10. Petunia
Petunia is very easy to grow and maintain. You can plant it in small containers and pots as well. It loves direct sunlight and flowers in vibrant colours of white, pink, red, purple, and blue, attracting the attention of hummingbirds during the growing season. Furthermore, the more petunias you have in your garden, the more hummingbirds you will have in your vicinity!