Attract hummingbirds with this list of plants that they’ll find delicious.
What Are the Best Plants for Hummingbirds?
Calling all hummingbird lovers! Discover the top flowers for attracting hummingbirds—from perennials (like bee balm) to annuals (like petunias). Check out our extensive list of hummingbird favorites with their nectar-rich, colorful flowers. See what kinds of flowers hummingbirds like—and which ones will keep these tiny pollinators coming back to your garden!
The Best Hummingbird Flowers
For centuries, gardeners have been fascinated with hummingbirds’ beauty and aerobatics. These flying jewels are also mighty pollinators, bringing forth more flowers and food. Having hummers in your garden is a win-win.
To give a hummingbird food, give these tiny birds something sweet to eat! Brightly-colored flowers that are tubular tend to produce the most nectar.
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These include perennials such as bee balms, columbines, daylilies, and lupines; biennials such as foxgloves and hollyhocks; and many annuals, including cleomes, impatiens, and petunias.
Here’s a list of flowering plants that attract hummingbirds. Choose varieties in red and orange shades.
| Common Name | Latin Name |
|---|---|
| Beard tongue | Penstemon |
| Bee balm | Monarda |
| Butterfly bush | Buddleia |
| Catmint | Nepeta |
| Clove pink | Dianthus |
| Columbine | Aquilegia |
| Coral bells | Heuchera |
| Daylily | Hemerocallis |
| Larkspur | Delphinium |
| Desert candle | Yucca |
| Iris | Iris |
| Flowering tobacco | Nicotiana alata |
| Foxglove | Digitalis |
| Lily | Lilium |
| Lupine | Lupinus |
| Pentas | Pentas |
| Petunia | Petunia |
| Pincushion flower | Scabiosa |
| Red-hot poker | Kniphofia |
| Scarlet sage | Salvia splendens |
| Scarlet trumpet honeysuckle | Lonicera sempervirens |
| Soapwort | Saponaria |
| Summer phlox | Phlox paniculata |
| Verbena | Verbena |
| Weigela | Weigela |
Hummingbird Garden Ideas
Hummingbirds also need a habitat that will give them food, water, shelter, and security. Here’s what attracts hummingbirds:
- Provide lots of space between plants to give hummingbirds enough room to hover and navigate from flower to flower.
- Hummingbirds need shade. Herbs, flowering shrubs, dwarf trees, and vines can all be used to create an ideal tiered habitat from ground level to 10 feet or more.
- Hummingbirds love water, especially if it’s moving. A gentle, continuous spray from a nozzle or a sprinkler hose is perfect for a bath on the fly.
- Hummingbirds do not have a keen sense of smell and rely on bright colors to find their food. They are particularly fond of red and are often observed investigating feeders with red parts, red plant labels, red thermometers, and even red clothes on a gardener.
Note: Do not use red dye in a hummingbird feeder; there is concern that it may harm the birds. Instead, use plain, clear sugar water (1 part white sugar mixed with 4 parts water). The birds love it! If your feeder does not have red on it, attach a red label or other item to attract them. Learn how to make hummingbird nectar.
→ Find more tips for introducing hummingbirds to your garden here!
An often-asked question is, “Why do hummingbirds hum?” We can’t say for certain, but we suspect that it might be because they don’t know the words! All jokes aside, the real answer is that hummingbirds are capable of beating their wings up to 80 beats per second, producing a buzz audible to human ears.
Fun Facts About Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds are one of the most interesting birds! Here are some fun facts about these little birds:
- Bee hummingbirds are the tiniest of all birds, weighing less than an ounce and measuring only 2 inches long.
- Their brightly-colored, iridescent feathers and quick movements make them appear to be living sun catchers—hence one nickname, “flying jewels.”
- Hummingbirds have the unique ability to fly in any direction, even backward, with their wings beating up to a blurring 80 beats per second.
- They can hover in midair when sipping nectar from brightly colored flowers with their long, slender beaks.
- While whizzing about the garden, hummingbirds expend so much energy that they must eat at least half their body weight each day to replace the calories that they burn up. This means eating almost constantly—from sunrise to sunset—and visiting over a thousand flowers every day.
- You can hear the call of a ruby-throated hummingbird here.
→ Learn more about hummingbirds here.
Learn More About Hummingbirds
- Many of the plants that attract hummingbirds also attract butterflies. Learn more about attracting butterflies to your garden.
Do you have hummingbirds or other birds in your garden? Let us know in the comments below!
Catherine Boeckmann
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A lot of cold climate plants on this list. Given the author is from Indiana and they have really cold winters, that is expected. Cannas and certain Crinum lilies are great hummingbird attractors. Here in North Carolina, I have even seen them on our banana trees. Not often though as the bumblebees and yellow jackets seem to hog those flowers.
I would love to be able to read the articles and comments without a million ads popping up! You can’t even read ads and comments without it changing your spot. It took me 5 minutes to read a 1 minute article.
Well, the Internet can be hard, but even harder when you're stupid, Karen.
It's you and your computer, not the site.
You need to change your name or your attitude. Definitely not kneeling before God with your remarks
Why so rude and hateful? Many people are not tech savvy. Instead of judgy comments why not teach ? And, live up to your user name too
I wish you would encourage native plants for everyone. So much better for the birds and the bees-all pollinators. Do an article about each regions of the country and what their native plants are for the Hummingbirds etc.
We have ruby throated hummingbirds that visit us every year. They usually arrive mid May and stay until mid Sepember. They are the highlight of my year. I enjoy watching them. I feed them with sugar water and I change the water every two days or every day in the extreme heat. I clean my feeders thoroughly. I think this year I will put two feeders out but spaced apart so I can attract more birds.i also plant flowers that attract the birds and have colorful patio planters that they love. I make sure the feeder is protected and as safe as possible for the birds. It is a commitment but I just love the hummers!
The best way to attract hummingbirds and butterflies is to plant the native plants they evolved with and prefer. Many of the plants on this list provided are non-native and some are even invasive species. They may provide nectar for hummers and butterflies, but they are not host plants for pollinators. Non-native plants cannot support their young and do not allow these pollinators to reproduce. Bottom line: To thrive, pollinators need host plants, all of which are native plants. Also, the mainstay of any hummers' diet are insects, which also need native plants to flourish. Install native plants in your yard or containers and you will have many many more pollinators!
Absolutely right! Our pollinators are in trouble. Check out Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever for seed packets of native flowers for your area. They have individual packets for free and you can sometimes even get them in your public library. They also have bulk seeds for large areas but I don’t think they are free.
Well said! Also omit pesticides sprays. They are toxic
