One of the best way to enjoy the company of hummingbirds, is to plant a hummingbird garden. In addition to providing them a
natural diet, a hummer garden is also an excellent way to attract them to your nearby feeder. A garden full of their favorite flowers
also makes a great backdrop, if you are planning to capture them on film.
If you plan carefully and select a variety of plants that flower at successively later dates, you will be rewarded with happy hummers
throughout the season. Like most birds, they have virtually no sense of smell, so the flowers that attract them tend to have little or
no fragrance, but instead, direct their resources toward visibility and nectar production.
In addition to food sources, convenient perching spots will make your yard more hospitable to them, as about 80% of their time is spent
sitting on twigs, leaf stems, clotheslines, etc...
Hummingbirds get the energy they need to maintain their astonishing metabolism primarily
from flower nectar and the sugar water they find at feeders. For protein and other nutrients, they also eat soft-bodied insects and spiders;
They feed by sight on regularly-followed routes, and their inquisitive nature will quickly lead them to investigate any possible
new food sources. So if you hang a feeder, sooner or later a hummingbird will come to investigate. Any feeder type will attract them, so look
for ones that are easy to disassemble and clean.
*Pesticides should be avoided around hummingbird plants. Killing garden pests will also eliminate the small insects hummingbirds
rely upon for protein. In addition, they might directly ingest pesticides sprayed onto flowers, which could sicken or kill them.
Feeder maintenance
- Every filling, flush with hot tap water
- Clean inside with a bottle-brush
- Don't use soap
- Discard any unconsumed sugar water in feeder
- Replace solution in feeder if it's cloudy
- Clean and refill feeder every three to five days
Hummingbirds will starve rather than consume spoiled feed
Plants for Hummingbirds
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Flowers |
Trees & Shrubs |
|
|
Agastache
Beard Tongue penstemon
Bee Balm (Monarda)
Bleeding Heart
Canna
Cardinal Flower
Columbine
Coral Bells
Firespike
Four O'Clocks
Foxglove
Fuchsia
Garden Phlox
Geraniumns
Hibiscus
Hollyhock
Hosta
Impatiens
Indian Paintbrush
Jacobiana
Jewelweed
Lantana
Larkspur
Lilies
Little Cigar
Lupine
Penstemon
Petunia
Red Hot Poker
Rose Mallow
Salvia species
Shrimp Plant
Sweet William
Yucca
|
Azalea
Black Locust
Buckeye
Butterfly Bush
Cape Honeysuckle
Cardinal Shrub
Chinaberry
Flowering Crabapple
Flowering Currant
Flowering Quince
Hawthorn
Horse Chesnut
Manzanita
Mimosa
Red Buckeye
Tree Tobacco
Weigela
Vines
Clematis
Coral Honeysuckle
Cypress Vine
Morning Glory
Scarlet Runner Bean
Trumpet Creeper
Wisteria
Yellow Jasmine
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