Plants that attract humming birds

[taskeinc]

Once upon a time I had a few very lovely "butterfly gardens." I actually bought all the seeds together. As many of you know, you can purchase a package of seeds, complete with a diagram of how to plant the seeds - distance, location, etc. For a minimal cost, I bought the seeds that created a really nice butterfly garden. At the center of one of the gardens I planted a "butterfly bush." As the name implies, the plants attract butterfly by the dozens. Another insect/bird a butterfly garden attracts is the very elusive and very odd-looking Hummingbird. These are some amazing creatures as they look like a cross between an insect and a bird.

What are some plants that attract hummingbirds? The butterfly bush is one of many.

 

[Soliloquy]

I used to have a honeysuckle out front (well, until the city razed all the trees in the adjoining lot and killed it) and we'd see the occasional hummingbird. If you can, set up a good camera close to your bush and try to get pictures of them!

 

[claudine]

I love humming birds, I find them the most adorable! Unfortunately they don't live in my climate zone. If they did, I'd do anything to attract them to my garden. As far as I know, they love flowers that produce nectar.
They like Trumpet creeper:

 

[writerkerrie]

Gorgeous bush up there! My husband got a hummingbird feeder and filled it with sugar water but did not color it red,so they didn't come! We haven't gotten a chance yet to take it back down!

 

[zigs]

I love humming birds, I find them the most adorable! Unfortunately they don't live in my climate zone. If they did, I'd do anything to attract them to my garden. As far as I know, they love flowers that produce nectar.
They like Trumpet creeper:

We have to make do with the Hummingbird Hawk moth over here Claudine,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macroglossum_stellatarum

Saw one summer before last, said on the radio that they are being found further north due to climate change, but I recon this summer will be too cold for them.

 

[claudine]

It looks kind of creepy from the closeup . But when it flies it really does remind me of a hummingbird!
Unfortunately, if these Hummingmoths were somewhere here, I'm sure that they already ran away - yesterday, it was 13c here and today it's even colder. And it's raining constantly

 

[zigs]

Not much better here Claudine, they say it just won't warm up this year now

 

[claudine]

Then no Hummingmoths for us . And definitely no Hummingbirds in the near future. Today it's warmer though, around 20c. I went for a walk, it was wonderful because acacias here release large amounts of pollen now and it looks absolutely gorgeous. I'm so glad that I'm not allergic to it.

 

[zigs]

Hot here too for a change, first day outside in a T shirt

 

[dconklin]

My Aunt has a beautiful Butterfly Bush and it is funny because it was supposed to be a miniature one but it is quite a nice size tree now It does attract the butterflies and we also saw insects that looked a lot like hummingbirds, but my Uncle said that no they were not hummingbirds. We didn't know what they were tho.

I love that Butterfly Bush but I am afraid to get a small one because I don't have the room for it to get as big as my Aunt's is!

 

[dconklin]

Hot here too for a change, first day outside in a T shirt

If I could package the heat and mail it, I would definitely share it with you! For us it has been too hot the last few days. I mean I was sweating during my walk at 8 AM yesterday - usually that time of the morning isn't too bad. Wish we could just both have a comfortable temperature instead of sickening hot here and too cool there. They have had air quality alerts here and it's not even officially summer yet

 

[zigs]

Can you email us some?

 

[dconklin]

Can you email us some?

Maybe by email it will be easier to filter out the pesky mosquitoes and biting bugs that are out already - you don't need them in the package

If only it was that easy, right? I think today is the last day of the heat wave for now. They are calling for some wicked thunderstorms and then 70s all week. 90s is just too hot when it starts in May - it has been in the 90s since last week!

 

[claudine]

I'd like to receive some of this heat too! Today, it was another cold day.
Here is another plant that hummingbirds like: Red Columbine.

 

[taskeinc]

My Aunt has a beautiful Butterfly Bush and it is funny because it was supposed to be a miniature one but it is quite a nice size tree now It does attract the butterflies and we also saw insects that looked a lot like hummingbirds, but my Uncle said that no they were not hummingbirds. We didn't know what they were tho.

I love that Butterfly Bush but I am afraid to get a small one because I don't have the room for it to get as big as my Aunt's is!

You know you can always trim or prune the B. Bush, to keep it close to the size that you want it.. The more you prune it, the thicker it will get, but you can still keep its growth under control. The Butterfly Bush above is NOT mine, I grabbed the image off the Internet. As much as I hate to say it, mine is not that gorgeous, but it's nice. I have to do a little trimming and pull some weeds this summer because the small trees and bushes that it sits in the middle of, they have grown taller and some weeds are trying to choke my B.Bush out, but I won't allow that to happen. I do see Hummingbirds often, maybe one or two per week if I'm paying attention. I will try to get a picture and post it here.