Hummingbird Plants

The Registry of Nature Habitats - Hummingbird Plants

Components of a Nature Habitat 

Structural: Feeders Water Dust Beds & Grit Salt Banks & Cliffs Brush & Rock Piles Snags Nest Boxes

Living: Conifers Grasses & Legumes Butterfly, Bee & Moth Plants Hummingbird Plants Summer Plants Fall Plants Winter Plants Nut & Acorn Trees

Not everyone will be blessed with all sixteen Habitat Components on their property.  This does not mean that introducing as many as possible will not enhance wildlife.  The key is to understand each of the components, what they are, how they assist in nature and what wildlife will be assisted by their availability.

Living

Hummingbird Plants - Four species of hummingbirds are found in Nebraska, one in the east and three in the west. Ruby-throated hummingbirds migrate through eastern Nebraska in spring and fall, and some nest here, mostly along the Missouri river valley. Typically, ruby-throat migration in Nebraska peaks about May 5-17 and September 2-18, but northward migration may occur from April to June and southward flights from August to early October. Broad-tailed and rufous hummingbirds are seen in the Nebraska panhandle during fall migration from late July to early September with most sightings in early to mid-August. Calliope hummingbirds are seen rarely in the panhandle area. These four hummingbird species spend winter in Mexico and Central America.

What They Eat

The natural diet of hummers is flower nectar, tree sap, and small insects and spiders that are often captured in or near flowers. This natural diet can be supplemented by hummingbird feeders, which dispense a sugar water solution. Flowers blooming through the season, however, are needed when hummingbirds are present to attract them and to provide the natural foods required for a complete diet.

Planting for Hummingbirds

 Flowers add beauty and a place where hummingbirds can find both flower nectar and insects to eat.

Table I  lists recommended herbaceous plants that can provide a variety of flowers for hummingbirds when they are present in your rural or urban community. These landscape plants provide beauty as well as a natural foraging area where hummingbirds can find both flower nectar and small insects to eat. Select plants that provide flowers throughout the season, especially at times when you expect hummingbirds. Include red varieties of the plants listed because red tubular flowers appear to be especially attractive to hummingbirds. Some of the plants listed occur both as wildflowers and as cultivated varieties. Where these wildflowers are growing naturally, maintaining them can benefit hummingbirds. For planting, check with nurseries for availability of either wildflowers or cultivated varieties.

Trees and shrubs form the framework of your landscape and these also can benefit hummingbirds. Common flowering shrubs favored by hummingbirds include Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus and other species), Weigela (Weigela florida), and Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus). Other shrubs used include Honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.), Beauty Bush (Kolkwitzia amabilis), Currant (Ribes odoratum), and Gooseberry (Ribes speciosum). Trees used by hummingbirds include Flowering Crab (Malus spp.), Hawthorne (Crataegus spp.), Horsechestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera), and Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia). In maintaining flowering plants, it's best to avoid insecticide use around the flowers, because hummingbirds depend on small insects as part of their diet.

Table I. Herbaceous plants that attract hummingbirds

Plants	Sun Exposure	Moisture Preference	Flowering Time	Comments
Rose-of-Sharon Hibiscus syriacus	Full sun to partial shade	Moist; well-drained	Late summer to early fall	Perennial shrub that may die back to the ground each year.
American columbine Aquilegia hybrids	Full sun to partial shade	Moist; well-drained	Late spring early summer	Short-lived herbaceous perennial. In full sun locations, protect from hot afternoon sun.
Bee balm (Oswego tea, or Scarlet bergamot) Monarda didyma	Full sun	Moist	Summer	Herbaceous perennial. Many cultivars - select powdery mildew resistant types. Remove faded flowers (dead head). Not drought tolerant.
Blazing stars Liatris spp.	Full sun or light shade	Moist; well-drained	Midsummer to late fall	Perennial. Several species and cultivars available.
Butterfly-bush Buddleia davidii	Full sun	Moist; well-drained; cool	Early summer	Behaves as a herbaceous perennial in our climate. Many cultivars.
Clematis Clematis × jackmanii and other species	East exposure; sun	Moist; well-drained; cool soil	Early summer	Perennial. Many cultivars - some natives; mulch soil to keep cool; avoid hot afternoon sun.
Coral bells Heuchera sanguinea	Sun to partial shade	Moist; well-drained	Late spring	Herbaceous perennial; Needs high organic soils - avoid clay
Daylily Hemerocallis spp. and hybrids	Sun to partial shade	Moist to dry, well-drained	Late spring to summer	Herbaceous perennial. Many hybrids - use different hybrids and species to obtain season long bloom.
Foxglove Digitalis purpurea	Semi-shade	Moist; well-drained	Spring	Biennial; self-sows and maintains itself.
Garden phlox (Perennial phlox) Phlox paniculata	Sun	Moist; well-drained	Summer	Herbaceous perennial. Requires site with good air movement; avoid overhead watering, or water in early morning; many cultivars; mildew a serious problem.
Gladiolas Gladiolus spp.	Sun	Moist; well-drained	Summer	Perennial, but store corm indoors over winter; protect from wind
Hardy fuchsia Fuchsia riccartoni	Sun in morning; shade in afternoon	Moist; well-drained	Summer, fall	Not hardy in Nebraska; grow in a container and bring indoors in winter.
Hollyhock Alcea Rosea (Althaea rosa)	Sun	Moist; well-drained	Summer, fall	Biennial. Self-sows; maintains single flower type
Honeysuckle Trumpet Lonicera sempervirens and hybrids such as Brown's honeysuckle.	Sun to shade	Moist; well-drained	Spring; sparsely thereafter	Perennial vine.
Hosta Hosta spp.	Semi-shade	Moist; well-drained	Early summer to late summer	Herbaceous perennial.
Moss pink Phlox subulata	Full sun	Moist; well-drained	Early spring	Herbaceous perennial.
Nasturtium Tropaeolum spp.	Sun; avoid hot sites	Dry, low N soils	Summer, fall	Annual.
Penstemon Penstemon gloxinoides and other species	Sun	Dry; well-drained	Spring to summer	Herbaceous perennial.
Petunia Petunia × hybrida	Full sun	Well-drained	Summer to frost	Annual.
Salvia or sage (red and others) Salvia splendens and others	Sun to light shade	Moist; well-drained	Spring to frost	Annual to herbaceous perennial. Tolerates some moisture stress, but with reduced flowering.
Flowering tobacco Nicotiana alata	Full sun to partial shade	Moist; well-drained	Summer, fall	Annual.
Scarlet runner pole bean Phaseolus coccineus	Sun	Well-drained	Summer	Annual vine.
Scarlet trumpet creeper Campsis radicans	Sun	Well-drained	Summer	Annual vine.
Wild blue phlox Phlox divaricata	Shade	Moist; well-drained	Spring	Herbaceous perennial.
Zinnias Zinnia elegans	Full sun	Well-drained	Summer, fall	Annual.