Want hummingbirds to visit your garden? These 10 easy flowers are guaranteed to attract them.
Hummingbirds are such beautiful creatures, aren’t they? I love to watch them zip about among my garden flowers with their tiny, shimmering jewel-toned wings that bring a sense of magic to my landscape.
With their dazzling colors and high-speed acrobatics, they bring lots of life to the gardens and are pure joy to watch.
Want to attract more hummingbirds to your garden without the work of filling and cleaning feeders? There are lots of easy-to-grow flowers that will make your garden a hummingbird paradise.
In this post, I’m sharing the easiest flowers to grow that attract hummingbirds plus some additional trips for enticing them to your backyard.
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Why Attract Hummingbirds?
Hummingbirds aren’t just beautiful; they’re also essential pollinators. As they flit from flower to flower, they help our gardens and ecosystems thrive with abundant blooms and lots of life. Plus, who doesn’t love the relaxing buzz of their wings on a summer afternoon?
Top 10 Easy Hummingbird Flowers
Ready to transform your garden into a hummingbird hotspot? These 10 easy-to-grow flowers are proven winners when it comes to attracting these dazzling little birds. Get ready to discover a variety of vibrant blooms that will fill your yard with color and the delightful hum of hummingbird wings.
Foxgloves (Digitalis)
These tall, elegant flowers produce a profusion of bell-shaped blooms in vibrant shades, a favorite of hummingbirds. Foxgloves thrive in partial shade and moist soil. (Hardiness Zones: 4-10, Bloom Time: Spring-Early Summer)
I struggled with growing foxgloves for years! In the past, I’d buy mature plants at the local nursery, plant them, and they’d peter out.
Last year, I started foxgloves from seed indoors under grow lights and they plants not only bloomed that season, but returned the next! So if you’ve struggled to get them to take in your garden, try starting them from seed.
Nepeta (Catmint)
Nepeta is a low-maintenance perennial boasts clusters of purple flowers and aromatic foliage. Hummingbirds and butterflies alike adore catmint, which prefers full sun and well-drained soil. (Hardiness Zones: 3-8, Bloom Time: Late Spring-Fall).
Nepeta is a deer resistant perennial with a long bloom time too. Cut it back halfway after the first set of flowers to bring on a second set of blooms.
Bee Balm (Monarda)
With its bright pink, spiky blooms, bee balm is a hummingbird magnet. It’s easy to care for, spreading readily in sunny spots with moist soil. (Hardiness Zones: 4-9, Bloom Time: Summer)
In my garden, monarda spreads with ease. So give it plenty of room to grow or you’ll need to divide them sooner than later.
Echinacea (Coneflowers)
Coneflowers offers long-lasting color and a steady supply of nectar. It’s a tough native plant that handles heat and drought well while attracting hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and other beneficial insects. (Hardiness Zones: 3-9, Bloom Time: Summer-Fall)
Columbine
Delicate and charming, columbines offer bell-shaped flowers in a variety of colors. They prefer dappled shade and moist soil. (Hardiness Zones: 3-8, Bloom Time: Spring-Summer)
While I can grow columbine without issue in my zone 6b garden, it can be invasive in some regions. Therefore, it is a good idea to check with your local cooperative extension before planting in your garden.
Rose Mallow
With its large, showy blooms in shades of pink, red, and white, rose mallow is a stunning addition that hummingbirds can’t resist. It tolerates heat and humidity, flourishing in full sun. Just we aware that hardy hibiscus is not deer resistant and will need some protection from browsing. (Hardiness Zones: 4-9, Bloom Time: Summer-Fall)
In my gardens, I spray them with this deer repellent and the deer leave them alone.
Salvia
Salvias come in so many varieties, but all of them attract hummingbirds with their colorful tubular flowers. Depending on the kind, they thrive in sun or partial shade. (Hardiness Zones: Varies depending on type, Bloom Time: Varies depending on type)
While salvia is easy to grow, plant them in well-draining soil as they do not love wet feet. Much like nepeta, it is a deer resistant plant where you can get a second set of blooms if you deadhead the flowers.
Zinnia
These cheerful, daisy-like flowers come in a dazzling array of colors. Zinnias are a reliable hummingbird favorite, thriving in full sun and regular watering. (Hardiness Zones: Annual, Bloom Time: Summer-Fall).
Zinnias are super easy to start from seed giving you lots more varieties to grow. They make wonderful additions to cut flower gardens and look incredible in a bouquet!
Petunias
Available in a dizzying array of colors and patterns, petunias are a reliable hummingbird favorite. They one of the easiest flowering annuals to grow that love full sun and regular watering. (Hardiness Zones: Annual, Bloom Time: Summer-Fall)
Cleome
This unique annual features spidery blooms in pink, white, and purple. Cleome loves the sun and will reward you with flowers all summer long. Cleome is a great deer resistant flowers that looks beautiful all season long. In my zone 6b garden, it drops seed and spreads with ease. (Hardiness Zones: Annual, Bloom Time: Summer-Fall)
The Design Secrets to Attracting Hummingbirds to Your Garden
To attract more hummingbirds to the garden, plant a variety of flowers and shrubs in varying heights to provide shade, shelter, food, and water.
Hummingbirds love bright-colored, tubular flowers because they hold more nectar and are particularly drawn to red, orange, pink, and yellow hues.
Attract them to the garden with early blooming varieties so they learn where they want to stop and shop early in the growing season.
Maximize Hummingbird Visits with Smart Garden Design
Grow similar flowers together in a large group so that hummingbirds can spot them more easily while flying.
In my gardens, I design in odd-numbered groupings. Depending on the mature size of a plant and space I have, I generally plant in 1’s, 3’s, 5’s, 7’s and 9’s.
Go Beyond Flowers: More Ways to Attract Hummingbirds
You’ve planted the perfect hummingbird-friendly flowers, but want to take your garden to the next level. Get ready for even more of these dazzling visitors with these additional tips that go beyond just blooms.
- Supplement with feeders: Use a simple sugar water solution to provide extra energy.
- Offer water features: A birdbath or gentle fountain will entice them to your garden.
- Provide perches: Place natural branches or decorative perches near feeding areas for rest.
Hummingbird FAQ: Your Guide to Attracting These Tiny Wonders
What do hummingbirds eat?
Hummingbirds primarily feed on two things:
- Nectar: The sweet liquid found inside flowers is their main energy source.
- Insects: Hummingbirds eat small insects and spiders, which provide them with essential protein.
So it’s important to focus on planting flowers that provide lots of nectar for them and create a healthy ecosystem that is free from pesticides.
How else can I attract hummingbirds to my garden?
Here are the best ways to entice hummingbirds:
- Plant hummingbird-friendly flowers: Choose blooms in shades of red, orange, pink, and purple. Aim for a variety of flower shapes and sizes.
- Hummingbird feeders: Supplement natural food sources with feeders filled with a simple sugar-water solution (1 part sugar to 4 parts water).
- Water features: A birdbath or gentle misting fountain will attract thirsty hummingbirds.
- Perches: Place natural branches or decorative perches near feeding areas for rest.
More About Planting Hummingbird Flowers
With just a little effort, your garden can become a hummingbird paradise. Plant a selection of these easy flowers, and soon you’ll be delighted by the sight and sound of these tiny wonders buzzing all around!
Are you growing any of these hummingbird favorite flowers in your garden yet? What flowers do they enjoy in your garden? Please tell me more in the comments below.
For more information about attracting hummingbirds to your garden, please see this article from the University of Wisconsin Extension.
To drill down on more beginner gardening techniques and tips, please read these posts:
- Flower Gardening 101
- Growing a Cut Flower Garden for Beginners
- Container Garden Ideas for Beginners
- How to Start a Vegetable Garden
- Herb Gardening for Beginners
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear! And feel free to share this post with anyone you think would find it helpful too.
Happy Gardening!
To learn more about gardening for hummingbirds, CLICK HERE. And if you want to learn more about how to grow a butterfly garden, CLICK HERE. And HERE is a list of plants that attract butterflies too.
Garden Tour 2019
During the 2019 growing season, I documented and photographed my gardens weekly to watch how they grew and changed.
The following photos are how my gardens looked then.
To see what they look like now (and they look dramatically different), CLICK HERE.
Front Yard Cottage Garden
As we meander along the front garden pathway, I want to highlight what’s blooming this week.
It’s such a joy to see this garden grow and change every day.
In bloom are: Catmint, Cleome, Dahlia, Euphorbia, Marigold, Roses, and Pansies.
I love incorporating the colorful foliage of Coral Bells (Heuchera) to play off the hues in the flowers.
Notice the bright tubular purple flowers on this Catmint plant.
While I was weeding, the hummingbird came by often for a taste.
I used to have so many more Asiatic Lillies.
While I love these gorgeous flowers, they were decimated by the lily leaf beetles.
And they are not easy to eradicate.
This is one of the few I have left and it’s just starting to bloom.
Once these die out I’m done growing Asiatic Lillies.
Lamb’s Ear is not my favorite flower, but I love the color and texture of the foliage.
Not to mention, deer avoid browsing on this one.
Hummingbirds occasionally stop by this plant too!
When the flowers fade, I cut the stalks back so the foliage brightens up the garden.
The Well Garden Tour
My favorite plant in this garden is smoketree.
That foliage gets me every time!
Isn’t it beautiful?
The pink peonies did not last long but they were beautiful while they bloomed!
I love the foliage color of smoketree and the movement that the Zebra Grass offers.
This garden will change to more red, yellow, and orange hues as the season progresses.
And Moonbeam Coreopsis is on the verge of blooming.
I can’t wait.
They produce such happy yellow flowers that the pollinators love.
It warms up my garden every summer.
This Butterfly Weed has reseeded itself in a few of my gardens.
It is preparing to bloom with these pretty orange blossoms.
If you are not growing butterfly weed, you should!
It is a major butterfly and hummingbird magnet.
And is super easy to care for.
Mailbox Garden Tour
The mailbox garden has always been a fun garden for me because it’s near the road and the mailperson enjoys seeing the blooms when she delivers the mail.
It’s also one of my smaller gardens so it’s a bit easier to manage during the growing season.
The Jackmanii Clematis that I planted here when we moved in about 20 years ago is starting to behave a little more.
I work on training it up the mailbox almost daily.
It’s growing up the mailbox like it’s supposed to and is just starting to bloom.
I really love these Petunias.
They are so pretty in the gardens.
These petunias are a little low to the ground for hummingbirds to enjoy, but I hang some on my deck that they visit frequently.
Backyard Gardens Tour
I’ve got a few beds in the backyard.
It can sometimes be a lot to maintain.
But it’s worth it!
And I’ve got a bunch of flowers back here that hummingbirds really enjoy.
Like this Hibiscus Standard.
It is a hummingbird magnet!
They LOVE stopping by to grab a taste.
I love watching hummingbirds stop by this planter.
I have this Hibiscus Standard on my deck in one of the larger containers.
It is underplanted with Bacopa and Euphorbia.
The resident groundhog has already been by for a taste of the Euphorbia. Ugh.
This Viburnum is just starting to bloom.
The aroma will be heavenly in the back for the next few weeks until it is done.
Joe Pye Weed is about halfway to maturity.
This plant adds a lot of height, drama, and fall color to the back border.
Not to mention, butterflies LOVE joe pye!
The Plume Poppies are starting to grow their plumes.
They are about 8 feet tall now and still growing!
This will be a lackluster year for my knockout roses.
Deer browsed and ate the first blooms off.
I am playing catch-up to resurrect them.
Happy I got a few blooms though!
And now, I am spraying everything with deer repellent.
CLICK HERE to learn what I use.
The vegetable garden is thriving!
We have been harvesting lettuce daily.
New Jersey has the best climate for growing berries.
These blueberries should be ready to pick in late June/early July.
The Raspberries are starting to grow.
These are so yummy to pick fresh!
They are so sweet.
Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed this week’s garden tour and appreciate you joining me. If you missed a few tours or want to see how much the garden has changed, you can see it here:
Do you love to garden too? I would love to hear about it and see some photos. Please leave your ideas, comments & more below or contact me here.
