Plants that attract hummingbirds

When choosing hummingbird flowers for your garden or landscape, look for blooms with rich, bright colors (red flowers are particular hummingbird favorites), long or tapered shapes that can accommodate the hovering birds’ long bills, and plentiful nectar to keep them coming back for more sips.

Bee Balm (Monarda didyma)

Native to North America, the perennial bee balm plant is a favorite among all types of pollinators. Their brightly colored flowers have an open shape with tubular petals that bloom from the start of June through the end of summer, though deadheading spent flowers will encourage them to bloom for even longer.

Bee balm can grow to heights of 2-5 feet, it is a great background plant for a pollinator garden.

• USDA Growing Zones: 4 to 9.
• Sun Exposure: Full sun.
• Soil Needs: Evenly moist.

Pride of Madeira (Echium candicans)

With their silvery-green leaves and striking conical flower spikes that bloom from early spring to summer, the pride of Madeira plant is sure to attract a large number of hummingbirds to your garden.

They’re low maintenance and grow to heights of 5-6 feet, spreading as far as 10 feet. Incredibly fast-growing, these evergreen plants are also drought tolerant and deer resistant.

• USDA Growing Zones: 14 to 24.
• Sun Exposure: Full sun.
• Soil Needs: Well-draining, sandy loam.

Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata)

Hummingbirds can’t resist the sweet smell of these popular perennial plants, especially due to their long blooming season from mid-summer to mid-fall

Commonly used as a border plant the garden phlox flowers range from white and lavender to pink and red. They can be temperamental if not given enough air circulation and they are also easily affected by mildew and root rot if overwatered.

• USDA Growing Zones: 4 to 8.
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade.
• Soil Needs: Moist but well-draining.

Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia uvaria)

With a name like red hot poker (also known as torch lily), it comes as no surprise that these unique perennials are almost impossible to ignore—especially if you’re a hummingbird.

The plant grows in upright stalks of bluish-green leaves topped with dense clumps of tubular flowers—red on the top and yellow on the bottom. They can grow to 6 feet in height and are virtually disease-free, which, along with their long blooming period from spring to summer, makes them a perfect addition to a showy garden.

• USDA Growing Zones: 5 to 9.
• Sun Exposure: Full sun.
• Soil Needs: Neutral, well-draining.

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

The long, tubular flowers of these plants don’t just attract hummingbirds but rely on them for survival as well.

Each flower consists of three lower petals and two upper petals with a tube at the base, a difficult territory for many types of pollinating insects. The cardinal flower depends on the long beaks of hummingbirds for pollination.

Cardinal flowers are perennials with red blossoms that bloom from May to October.

• USDA Growing Zones: 3 to 9.
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade. 
• Soil Needs: Moist.

Bleeding Heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis)

This perennial has heart-shaped, pink flowers that dangle downwards from long arching stems, the bleeding-heart plant blooms in late spring.

The flowers are completely unique-looking and provide a soft contrast to their green, divided leaves. You can plant these flowers as part of a shaded border or woodland garden and use them for fresh-cut bouquets. The blooms will last for two weeks in freshwater.

• USDA Growing Zones: 2 to 9.
• Sun Exposure: Light shade.
• Soil Needs: Well-draining, moist.

Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans)

The trumpet creeper is known for its trumpet-shaped flowers ranging in color from orange to reddish-orange, which hummingbirds love.

These plants are aggressive climbers, covering rocks, fences, and trees by way of aerial rootlets up to 35 feet long. Trumpet creepers are native to North America but will spread rapidly if not contained.

• USDA Growing Zones: 4 to 10.
• Sun Exposure: Full to partial sun.
• Soil Needs: Well-draining.

Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

The flower head of the common yarrow plant is arranged in dense clusters of tiny blossoms that give off a strong fragrance to attract pollinators. They are both deer and drought resistant, blooming all summer long.

• USDA Growing Zones: 3 to 9.
• Sun Exposure: Full sun.
• Soil Needs: Sandy, loamy, well-draining.

Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)

These perennial, semi-wooded plants are big climbers due to their draping stems. They grow into woody vines with evergreen leaves and yellow bark but tend to be more deciduous in the Midwest and Northeast. The leaves are thick and leathery, while the blossoms grow orange-red with five stamens.

Trumpet honeysuckles do best in full sun but can tolerate a fair amount of shade in certain climates.

• USDA Growing Zones: 4 to 9.
• Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade.
• Soil Needs: Moist, well-draining soil.

Warning

Some of the plants on this list are toxic to pets. For more information about the safety of specific plants, consult the ASPCA’s searchable database.

_{Article Sources- “Hummingbirds.” Arizona State University and www.treehuggger.com}