These perennial flowers will attract hummingbirds to your garden. With varying bloom times, you can provide nectar-rich plants throughout the growing season in a cold climate garden (zones 4 to 8).
For supplemental food, use this hummingbird food recipe with granulated sugar.
Hummingbirds In The Garden
If you’ve watched hummingbirds you may have noticed they are attracted to a variety of flowering plants but tend to have favorites within a garden. This may be practical. It could mean the preferred flowers simply have the best nectar supply at the moment.
While there are lots of annual flower options, by growing a variety of perennials with different bloom times, there will plenty of nectar throughout the growing season.
You may also see the very same birds each year during the spring hummingbird migration.
We think of nectar-rich plants as their main fuel, but in fact the bulk of their diet is invertebrates like insects and spiders and various larvae.
But nectar is important too.
With their long beaks and tongue-like proboscis, hummingbirds are best at gathering nectar from plants they have co-evolved with like cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis). The deep, tubular flowers are just right for these unusual birds.
The other essential part to attracting any wildlife is to grow diversely and safely.
This means:
- Providing a variety of different trees and shrubs for nesting and shelter.
- Providing a diverse selection of plants to support the food web.
- Avoiding any harmful products like pesticides and herbicides.
- Ensuring safe, clean water available.
This, along with the right plants, will have the hummingbirds humming in your garden.
50 Perennials That Attract Hummingbirds
Before choosing plants, check that they are non-invasive and suited to your growing region.
Note: spp. after a plant name means species.
- Bee balm (Monarda spp.) Perennial in zones 4-9
- Begoniam (Begonia spp.) Perennial in zones 6-9
- Blazing star (Liatris spp.) Perennial in zones 5-9
- Bleeding heart (Lamrocapnos and Dicentra spp.) Perennial in zones 2-9
- Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) Perennial in zones 4-9
- Canna (Canna generalis) Perennial in zones 8-10
- Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) Perennial in zones 2-9
- Carpet bugle (Ajuga reptans) Perennial in zones 4-10
- Century plant (Agave Americana) Perennial in zones 8-10
- Columbine (Aquilegia ssp.) Perennial in zones 3-8
- Coral bells (Heuchera sanguinea) Perennial in zones 3-9
- Dahlia (Dahlia merckii) Perennial in zones 7-9
- Dame’s rocket (Hesperis matronalis) Perennial in zones 2-9
- Delphinium (Delphinium spp.) Perennial in zones 3-7
- Flowering tobacco (Nicotiana alata) Perennial in zones 10-11
- Four-o’-Clocks (Mirabilis jalapa) Perennial in zones 7-10
- Foxglove (Digitalis spp.) Perennial in zones 4-10
- Geranium (Pelargonium spp.) Perennial in zones 3-9
- Gilia (Gilia ssp.) Perennial in zones 3-9
- Gladiolus (Gladiolus spp.) Perennial in zones 8-10
- Hollyhocks (Alcea spp.) Perennial in zones 2-10
- Impatiens (Impatiens spp.) Perennial in zones 10-11
- Lantana (Lantana camara) Perennial in zones 9-11
- Lily (Lilium spp.) Perennial in zones 4-9
- Lupine (Lupinus spp.) Perennial in zones 4-8
- Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) Perennial in zones 8-11
- Paintbrush (Castilleja spp. ) Perennial in zones 3-9
- Penstemon (Penstemon spp. ) Perennial zones 3-10
- Petunia (Petunia spp. ) Perennial in zones 10-11
- Phlox (Phlox spp. ) Perennial in zones 3-9
- Red-Hot poker (Kniphofia uvaria ) Perennial in zones 5-9
- Scabiosas (Scabiosa spp.) Perennial in zones 3-7
- Scarlet sage (Salvia splendens ) Perennial in zones 10-11
- Spider flower (Cleome hassleriana and Tarenaya hassleriana ) Perennial in zones 3-10
- Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) Perennial in zones 3-9
- Verbena (Verbena spp.) Perennial in zones 6-10
- Yucca (Yucca spp.) Perennial in zones 4-10
Resources
This tips sheet provides the recipe for sugar water and other interesting tidbits for hummingbird fans. If ants are a problem, buy or make an ant moat to keep them off your feeders.
~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛
