.png)
One of the most common questions we get at Painters is, "What can I plant to attract hummingbirds?" We love this question because there are so many great choices! Whether you are looking to plant annuals or perennials; in the ground or in a container for the porch; for shady places or sunny spots, the staff at Painters have so many options for you to choose from. And we've created this photo-blog of our favorites. We know the hummingbirds love them and hope you will too!
Hover over or click on the images for plant identification. Or download a full list at the bottom of the blog.
Salvia is a tried-and-true hummingbird magnet in the garden! You can never go wrong with annual or perennial salvias. Dana swears by the purples and blues, like Hummingbird Falls and Mexican Bush Sage, and Azia loves them all, but especially adores Black and Blue Salvia!
And a close cousin to the salvias, taxonomically speaking, is another hummer fave: Agastache. Also commonly referred to as Hummingbird Mint! Tracy is especially a fan of Agastache foeniculum, or Anise Hyssop, as an herb that hummingbirds also enjoy!
If you are interested in sun-loving vines, both Sara and Betsy said coral honeysuckle is a favorite to plant for hummingbirds, but trumpet vine and crossvine are similarly great choices.
Shade is no barrier to providing a great food source. Betsy always highly recommends Streptocarpella, or False African Violet, which makes a great hanging basket in part-full shade (alongside your annual fuchsia basket!). And Brooke M. swears by the love of purples: shade-tolerant plants like torenia and Plectranthus 'Velvet Elvis' have never let her down! (See evidence out her window in the bottom photo!)
And we know hummingbirds love RED. Hummingbirds are attracted to nectar-producing flowers native to the bird's range, like coral honeysuckle, bee balm, buckeye, and cardinal flower. Many of the plants they naturally feed on have red or orange blooms - so they will often choose reds and oranges even when not native. Retail floor staff member, Brooke A. loves her pineapple sage and cardinal flower (and even her big red grill to draw their eye!)
Keep hummingbirds coming to your garden by interweaving annuals and perennials with different blooming periods. This way you will be certain to provide a steady food source from spring into the fall! And there are so many choices for a sunny garden!
Besides annual salvias, a few more sun-loving annual blooms to keep in mind:
And some additional sun-loving perennials not already included in our list:
Comments