June 20, 1997
Fairies in the Garden, Part 3
Plants to Attract Hummingbirds
Feeders are a fine supplement to a Hummingbirds diet, but to be truly successful in attracting and keeping hummingbirds in your yard, you must provide them with natural food sources. There are many plants that not only provide the birds with high concentrations of nectar, but they'll also be wonderful additions to your garden.
Hummingbirds feed by sight, and learn from birth, from mother's teachings, and by trial and error, which plants will provide them with the most nectar for the least work. They are attracted by bright colors, first to red, scarlet and orange, then deep pink, however, once they have discovered your garden, they will investigate any brightly colored flower, especially if that flower has a tubular shape. Hummingbirds know that flowers with deep tubes are often the ones with the most nectar and will investigate them before any others.
As important as planting flowers of the right color and shape is ensuring that there is always something in bloom that will provide nectar for them from early spring when they first arrive in your area until they leave for the winter migration. For northern gardeners, this encompasses April through September or early October. Southern gardeners will want to have something blooming as early as the first of March through mid November. In addition, it is best not to group all of the nectar plants in one area. If you spread them out in several gardens, there will be more hummingbirds. They are very territorial, and will not tolerate other birds near their nectar sources. If you have nectar flowers dotted here and there throughout your yard, there will be more territory and less conflict, resulting in more birds.
Begin immediately by selecting annuals and tropical perennials that can be grown as annuals to add instant, long blooming nectar plants to your garden. Next, select perennials, shrubs, vines and trees for permanent nectar sources.
Once your garden is established and your feeder hung, you must simply be patient. The Hummingbirds will eventually find you.
I've compiled a List of Hummingbird Plants from my garden journal, friends, and various sites around the net and put them all together with links to pictures of the plants/flowers where possible. Use this to begin planning your hummingbird garden. It is by no means complete, and I would welcome additions from your own garden experiences Until next week - Grow well,
Amber
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Ohio State U's Virtual Garden
HEY! CHECK THIS ONE OUT! A GREAT GARDEN SITE! - Some of the highlights:
Searchable image catalog - Extensive, searchable plant database - Virtual learning garden - Current Horticultural Event Calender - Much Much More!
WBS Garden Chat Line
A place to meet and talk in real time to other gardeners. This link will take you to Webchat Broadcasting System Front Page. There you must register to participate on the chat lines, but it's free. Follow the on screen instructions to complete registration. Then, select the Home and Living Hub, Choose the Home and Garden Plaza from the list of choices, and click on the Gardens link. There are live talk shows given by various experts in different garden topics. You'll find a link to the schedule on the front page of the garden chat line.
Garden Walk & Talk
An extensive site with page after page of interest to the gardener. Tom's site contains terrific information for the seed starter, including a database with species by species instructions for germinating over 1400 different perennials. If you're a seed trader, Tom has a large list of seeds available for trade. There is just too much here to mention. Do give it a visit.
READY FOR MORE GREAT GARDEN HOMEPAGES?
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Perennials: Cultivation and Propagation
