Hummingbird gardens

Hummingbird gardens

If you’ve ever watched tiny hummingbirds hovering around a flower bud, you were probably in awe of them. These tiny little birds flutter their wings so fast you can hardly see them, and many gardeners feel so strongly about this wonderful little critters that they believe their garden is not complete until they’ve attracted at least one.

Attracting hummingbirds to your garden can sometimes be done just by placing a simple hummingbird feeder in a tree, or mounted to the outside of a window. This doesn’t always do the trick though, and there are much better ways to get these tiny little birds coming to your garden regularly. The best way of course, is to simply create a hummingbird garden.

Hummingbird gardens can be small or large. In fact, some people create tiny ones in hanging container plants which are placed on their porch. The whole idea of a hummingbird garden though, is to put out plants and flowers which hummingbirds can’t resist.

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Garden Tip...

There are many different species and varieties of Lilies, but none approach those known as Japan Lilies in the beauty and variety of their flowers, and their exquisite fragrance. They are perfectly hardy, and the fall is the proper time to plant them. If good strong bulbs are set out in the ground in October or November, planted about eight inches deep, they will throw up strong shoots the following summer, and bloom freely. The flowers increase in size and beauty with the age of the bulb, and this should be left to grow undisturbed in the same spot for five or six years; afterwards, if desired, the bulbs can be dug up, the offshoots removed, and the old bulbs reset, and they will do better than ever. Any of the young bulbs that have been removed can be planted out in the ground, and in a few years will form good blooming bulbs. The time to perform this work is in the fall.
~ James Sheehan
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Hummingbirds like a lot of color, so when you’re planting bushes or flowers designed to attract them, try putting several of the same color blooms together. This will create a larger patch of color that may be more successful in attracticing the hummingbird’s attention.

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Garden Tip...

The spring is preferable to the fall for setting out trees and shrubs of all kinds. In the Northern States they should be set out about the first of April, to give the roots time enough to become established before warm weather starts the leaves.
~ James Sheehan
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Almost any plant which creates flower blooms in a trumpet or fluted shape is usually an excellent hummingbird attracting plant. Use this as a basic rule of thumb when you’re buying plants you’re not familiar with. Hummingbirds are attracted to plants and flowers which don’t have this shape too though. I’ve seen hummingbirds enjoy desert mallow flowers year after year for instance, and these are not fluted or trumpet shaped.

Hummingbirds do seem to like the color yellow quite a bit, and they also seem to be more drawn to flowers which have a scent to them as well. Esperanza flowers for instance, are a bright cheery yellow colored tropical flower with a very light, sweet scent, and hummingbirds seem to love these.

Besides planting groups of colorful, scented flowers to attract hummingbirds, you should also put some sort of water source out for them. A bird bath for instance, or a small bubbling fountain always works great. Be sure to place your water source away from bushes and trees where cats may hide though, otherwise you may find yourself watching a daily cat hunt instead of daily fluttering hummingbird wings.

When trying to attract hummingbirds to your garden, be sure you’re not using harsh chemicals and insecticides on your flowers because these will kill the birds quickly. In fact, you shouldn’t even add food coloring or other additives to a hummingbird feeder either - all they need is natural nectar, or sugar and water.

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