by Snow Vandemore

Created on: July 25, 2009

Hummingbirds are a welcome presence in any garden, both for their pollination skills and simply for the sheer birdwatching enjoyment they provide. Fortunately, there are many different types of plants you can grow that will attract hummingbirds to your garden.

Hummingbirds have no sense of smell, so they rely on their eyesight to locate the plants with flowers that will yield the precious nectar they need to survive. Plants with tubular shaped flowers in shades of red are most desirable to hummingbirds, although flowers in orange, yellow, pink, fuscia, salmon, purple and rose colors are also tempting to them.

Variety

Just like us, hummingbirds appreciate a little variety to their diet. Although honeysuckle vines are a traditional choice, are attractive and the flowers are ideally suited to the hummingbird's long, tapered beak - there are an abundance of other types of plants with flowers that will also attract hummingbirds to your garden.

Here is a list of flowers that will lure a multitude of hummingbirds to your garden: agastache, monarda, begonia, bleeding heart, butterfly-weed, canna, cardinal flower, century plant, columbine, coral bells, dahlia, delphinium, fire pink, four o'clocks, foxglove, fuchsia, geranium, gladiolus, hollyhock, hosta, impatiens, lantana, lily, lupine, nasturtium, penstemon, petunia, phlox, sage, salvia, snapdragon, spider flower, sweet william, verbena, yucca, zinnia.

There are also many vines, shrubs and even trees that hummingbirds are known to frequent, including: azalea, flame acanthus, tree tobacco, turk's cap, honeysuckle, morning glory, trumpet creeper, albelia, butterfly bush, flowering quince, rose of sharon, weigela, flowering currant, rosemary, buckeye and horsechestnut, black locust, flowering crabs, hawthorns, mimosa, and tulip poplar, scarlet runner bean.

Placement

Depending upon how much space you have in your garden area or yard, there are some locations you will want to avoid staging your hummingbird plants. High traffic and activity areas, such as near your front or back door, may deter hummingbirds from visiting nearby plants. Areas known to be frequented by outdoor cats or other prey animals will also keep hummingbirds at a distance.

Be sure to place your plants in areas protected from high winds and temperature extremes. Locations that provide some partial shade during the day, on the north side of a building, are ideal.

Pesticide Use

Avoid using pesticides on or around your "hummingbird" plants. The birds might accidentally ingest the poisonous substance you have sprayed and you are also killing any bugs that might serve as a protein source for hummingbirds. If you must spray your plants because of an infestation of pests, try using a nontoxic, weak mixture of dish soap and water.

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