Aphrodite Rose of Sharon Flowers Attract Hummingbird that drinks their nectar.

Top Ten Perennials to Attract Hummingbirds

Top Ten Perennial Flowers for Hummingbirds

What’s more fun than watching hummingbirds flit from flower to flower? These mighty little birds are a thrill to watch in flight. If you love both gardening and bird watching you can have both all summer long with some thoughtful planting.

How to Attract Hummingbirds

Our recommendation is to plant perennial flowers to attract hummingbirds. Perennial flowers will not only attract hummingbirds, but native perennials will benefit hummingbirds season after season with little maintenance or effort on your part.

Below are some of our picks for the best flowers to benefit hummingbirds. Where possible, we’ve included additional varieties. Creating a bird-friendly backyard requires trees, flowers, and plants that birds like. Hummingbirds are no exception!

 1. Echinacea (Coneflower)

Attract Hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees who all love coneflowers—and we can’t blame them. These colorful wildflowers light up the landscape with their daisy-like blooms that keep pollinators flying by all season long. Your summer garden isn’t complete without them! Below are pictures of some of our favorite varieties like the Hot Papaya and Tiki Torch Coneflower.

Coneflowers are undergoing a revolution. It all began with the Purple Coneflower, a cherished Wildflower Spirit native to the Midwest, Southeast, and Southern Plains. 

This beloved prairie plant was once used medicinally by American Indians, and you will still find it today on drug store and supermarket shelves under its Latin name, Echinacea, as a supplement for treating colds.

 

2. Hemerocallis (Daylily) 

Did you know there are tens of thousands of daylily varieties out there? These plants were first brought to North America by the early European immigrants and had become naturalized by the early 1800s. Over two-hundred years later and you can still spot these glamorous perennials in home garden beds all over the United States.

Here are some of our favorite daylilies to use in the garden to attract hummingbirds: 

These cheery perennials are a welcomed sight in any garden, and they really stand out in borders. Hummingbirds just can’t resist these beauties!

3. Nepeta (Catmint) 

Catmint is a necessity in any butterfly garden—and hummingbirds love it, too! In late spring, this voracious perennial starts putting out tons of lovely purple-blue blooms, and they’ll last all summer long. 

Even without the flowers, you’ll love catmint for its velvety soft foliage! Our favorite varieties include Walker’s Low Catmint, Little Titch Catmint, and Purrsian Blue Catmint.

4. Baptisia Australis (Blue Wild Indigo)

Blue Wild Indigo is a hummingbird magnet! It’s also a real people-pleaser, with neat stalks of fragrant purple flowers that are perfect for cutting. And with how many flowers it pushes out during late spring and summer, both you and the hummingbirds will have plenty to enjoy!

Blue Wild Indigo played an important role in American history! It was the first subsidized agricultural crop grown on American soil. When supplies of True Indigo couldn’t keep up with demand in the 1700s, Colonists looked to the Blue Wild Indigo plant, which grows wild from Pennsylvania to Georgia and west to what is now Nebraska. At the height of its popularity, over a million pounds of Wild Indigo were shipped out per year!

5. Crocosmia (Montbretia)

Montbretia is a striking perennial. One of our favorites is the devilishly handsome Lucifer Montbretia. Hummingbirds adore its striking red blooms during summer, and dramatic spikes of foliage add visual appeal during the rest of the year.

Montbretias come to us from South Africa. There aren’t a lot of plants from South Africa’s diverse flora that are often grown in the U.S. The annual Geraniums that you grow outside your door are one exception. Montbretias are another. Lucifer is a hybrid of two species that was bred by the famous English nurseryman, Alan Bloom.


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