Hummingbird Plants

The 2-3" wide, white funnel shaped flowers are randomly flecked with pink to red and are produced in late spring. Iveryanum Azalea, a.k.a. Iveryana, is an heirloom dwarf Southern Indica hybrid developing into a 3' high mound of medium to deep green, medium textured, evergreen foliage. It lends itself to bonsai culture but is sure to be a low-maintenance conversation piece in the garden and landscape. Azaleas do best in average moist, acidic soils that are rich in organic matter but have good to excellent drainage and should be top dressed with an organic mulch such as pine straw and pine bark. We recommend using a slow-release, non-burning fertilizer that is labeled for acidic loving plants. Azalea flowers attract a variety of pollinators including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Item# 12797

Jacob Cline is one of the more reliable selections of Scarlet Bee Balm producing large clusters of brilliant red tubular flowers atop sturdy 3-4' stems in summer. Considered to be one of the most vigorous and disease resistant cultivars available. A clump-forming, slowly spreading winter deciduous perennial that enjoys moist but well-drained soils and ample sunlight. A hummingbird magnet! Item# 10541.

The fringed recurving coral-red petals are unique to this Hibiscus species. The bright tropical flowers hang like Japanese lanterns from the vigorous branches throughout much of the year. An easily grown, free-flowering tropical, and a definite conversation piece. The flowers attract a variety of pollinators including Hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies.Still one of our favorites! Caterpillar host: Gray hairstreak. Item # 9246.

The top performer in both attracting pollinators and disease resistance in the Mt. Cuba Center's trials! Huge conical clusters of smaller than typical fragrant lavender-pink flowers are produced over an extended period beginning in midsummer and lasting into fall attracting a host of pollinators including butterflies, hummingbirds, and larger bees. Jeana Garden Phlox is an exceptionally vigorous and free flowering selection of our native Phlox paniculata whose stems can touch on 5' by the end of the growing season. This is a hardy, clump forming, deciduous perennial preferring a full to mostly sunny site in an acidic, average moist, fertile soil with average or better drainage. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 13194

The 2-3" wide mainly white flowers have a nicely contrasting deep cherry red blotch and flecks but are occasionally light pink to light lavender and are produced in mid to late spring. Johga Azalea, a sport of Izayoi and sometimes spelled 'Joga', is a dwarf Satsuki evergreen azalea that slowly develops into a 2-3' high mound of deep green medium-texured foliage. It lends itself to bonsai culture but is sure to be a low-maintenance conversation piece in the garden and landscape. Azaleas do best in average moist, acidic soils that are rich in organic matter but have good to excellent drainage and should be top dressed with an organic mulch such as pine straw and pine bark. We recommend using a slow-release, non-burning fertilizer that is labeled for acidic loving plants. Azalea flowers attract a variety of pollinators including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Item# 12799

Along with the Coral Honeysuckles, this is easily our top recommended vine for attracting hummingbirds! The bright red, 2" long, tubular flowers are born in profusion from spring to fall on this vigorous but small growing perennial vine that appears to have been perfectly designed for hummingbirds. Few other manageable, perennial, hummingbird attracting vines can compete with the John Elsley Firecracker Vine, a selection of Manettia cordifolia, when it comes to sheer flower power! This is an easy to grow twining, herbaceous vine that dies to the ground in winter in the northern parts of its range and readily returns each spring from potato-like tubers. Easy enough to overwinter in a container indoors where hardiness is questionable. Item# 418

A Texas Superstar® selection! The large pyramidal to domed clusters of dark-eyed, light pink, lightly fragrant flowers are produced atop tall sturdy stems in summer and potentially into fall attracting mainly butterflies. John Fanick Garden Phlox, a selection of Phlox paniculata, is a disease resistant, clump forming, upright growing, herbaceous, native perennial growing to about 3' high and 1-2' wide. Garden Phlox will do best in an open, full sun to partially shaded site, with a well-draining, rich and fertile, acidic soil with average moisture and an organic mulch is highly recommended. John Fanick is one of the few disease resistant Garden Phlox recommended for the hot and humid south by Texas Horticulturist and author Greg Grant. Item# 10267

One of the top performers in Mt. Cuba Center's Monarda Trials! The dense whorled, almost ball-like clusters of 2" long tubular, fuchsia flowers are subtended by darker fuchsia and purple bracts. The flowers are supported on tall sturdy stems to about 40-48" high beginning in late spring to early summer and attracting hummingbirds, larger butterflies, hummingbird moths, and bees. Judith's Fancy Fuchsia Beebalm, a likely an offspring of a promiscuous Monarda didyma and M. fistulosa, is a taller growing cultivar that has proven to have excellent resistance to powdery mildew. This is a slowly spreading hardy perennial that generally prefers a moist to average moist, fertile soil, optimally in full sun with good air circulation. The seeds are also enjoyed by songbirds. Item# 12952

The full, rounded, funnel shaped, rich rosy red flowers are randomly marbled with splashes of white, but can also be solid red, pink, or near solid white, are produced in mid to late spring attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Kobai #2 Evergreen Azalea, a.k.a Red Plum, is a rare Satsuki hybrid with a dwarf compact, naturally rounded mound forming habit making this a popular choice for bonsai but it is equally desirable in the garden and landscape where its multi-colored flowers are sure to make a big splash. Provide your evergreen Azaleas with a well-drained, average moist, humus rich, acid soil and topdress with an organic mulch for the best results. Item# 12574

Intense true red 1" long tubular flowers adorn dense 12-24" high spikes atop the gray green fragrant foliage of this dwarf Agastache beginning in spring and continuing well into fall. Kudos™ Red Dwarf Hummingbird Mint is a true hummingbird magnet and the compact habit of this Agastache lends it to use in containers where you can draw these aerial acrobats for up close viewing as well as in the garden and landscape. Provide a full to mostly sunny location in a well-drained soil for optimum health and flowering. Periodic removal of spent flower spikes will help to keep the plants looking clean and fresh as well as to make way for new flower spikes. Image courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. www.terranovanurseries.com, all rights reserved. Item# 11649

Large clusters of 3" wide, trumpet-shaped, purple flowers, with a slightly darker purple halo and yellow and white throat, may be produced throughout the year under warm tropical conditions or late spring or early summer until fall as a perennial. The large showy flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. The Laurel Leaf Blue Trumpet Vine, Thunbergia laurifolia, is a close cousin of the more commonly available and highly popular Blue Sky Vine, T. grandiflora, but appears to have a longer flowering season and slightly narrower foliage than the latter. This is a naturally evergreen, moderately vigorous, tuberous rooted, twining, tropical vine that we expect to be a root hardy, summer flowering, die-back perennial into zone 8B. Where not hardy, it can be enjoyed as a container plant that is overwintered in a bright or sunny window. Provide a full to mostly sunny site, in average moist, fertile, well-drained soils for optimum vigor and flowering. Item#11797

Large, soft lemony yellow flowers with paler lower lips and slightly darker tubes and hoods are produced in spikes from mid to late spring until fall attracting hummingbirds, occasional larger butterflies, and larger bees. Lemon Pie Salvia, likely a hybrid of Salvia greggii the Autumn Sage, develops into a compact 18-24"H x 12-18"W with good flower power. Its smaller stature lends it to use as a (forgiving) container plant for a sunny area or add it to the garden and landscape. Provide a well-drained soil in full to mostly sunny conditions and never keep soggy wet. An RHS Award of Garden Merit winner! Photos courtesy of New World Plants, LTD., all rights reserved. Item# 13141

Tall, dense spikes composed of large, blue-purple, tubular flowers that emerge from chartreuse colored calyxes beginning and late summer and continuing into fall attracting hummingbirds, larger butterflies, and potentially some larger bees. Limelight Mexican Sage, a selection of Salvia mexicana, is a vigorous, large growing, clump-forming, herbaceous perennial adorned in large, deep green to bluish-green foliage that acts as a nice foil for the lighter colored flower spikes. Grows to about 6'H x 3-6'W by the end of the growing season. *In areas that experience hard freezes, like in zones 8 and 9, provide a breathable but insulative, preferably organic winter mulch. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist, well-drained, not overly fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 13580

Deep violet flowers with a white eye hang like grapes from this upright to arching, deciduous to semi-evergreen shrub. The flowers of Lindley's Butterfly Bush, Buddleja lindleyana, are produced nearly continuously from late spring to fall and attract a variety of pollinators including hummingbirds, butterflies, and larger bees. This is a naturally suckering shrub and will slowly develop into a mass that can be utilized as an informal hedge or at the back of the border. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in well-drained soils for optimal vigor and flowering. Item # 341

Deep glowing red, starry flowers with tubular throats are held on sturdy 24-36" high stems and flower over an extended period beginning in summer and often into fall under good conditions. An obviously hummingbird pollinated perennial but it aslo attracts some larger butterflies, especially Sulphurs. The Louisiana Catchfly, Silene subciliata, is a rare, drought resistant, clump forming, tap-rooted, native perennial that is found only in Western Louisiana and East Texas. It is typically seen growing on well-drained sandy loams to loamy sands and so areas with good to excellent drainage will be optimum. While the Louisiana Catchfly can tolerate the filtered shade of open Longleaf Pine forests, plants tend to be sturdier and shorter in full to mostly sunny sites. The rosettes are cloaked in rounded narrow, medium-green foliage and remain evergreen in zone 8B. This is one of the few Silenes that easily tolerates the heat and humidity of Southeastern summers. Easy and reliable once established. Item# 9522

Much like our old favorite the Butterfly Ginger but with much larger (like the size of a Luna Moth) white fragrant flowers that are borne from early summer to fall on shorter sturdier stems to 3-4'H and large lush tropical foliage. An excellent cut flower whose fragrance can fill a room. Multiplies readily but not uncontrollably. Item# 9775.

Clusters of rich orange, 2" long, tubular flowers with yellow throats are produced in late winter or early spring and continue cyclically throughout summer and into fall attracting mainly hummingbirds and potentially other pollinators. Magnifica Coral or Trumpet Honeysuckle, a selection of Lonicera sempervirens, is a deciduous to semi-evergreen, twining, woody, native vine that grows to about 10' high and is cloaked in blue-green to deep green rounded foliage. The flowers are followed by 1/4" red berries that are a treat for songbirds. This is a mannerly and manageable vine and will happily twine through a 6' high chain link fence or up an 8-10' arbor, trellis, or post. Few other native woody vines can boast such a long flowering season as the Coral Honeysuckles making them our #1 pick for attracting hummingbirds. Provide a sunny, average moist, well-drained site for optimum vigor and flowering. Caterpillar host: Chalcedon Checkerspot. Item# 9573

Clusters of deep red, 2" long, tubular flowers are produced beginning in late winter or early spring and continue cyclically through summer and into fall attracting mainly hummingbirds but potentially other pollinators as well. Major Wheeler Coral or Trumpet Honeysuckle, a selection of Lonicera sempervirens, is considered by many to be the best of the deep red flowering selections of this native vine. This is a twining, woody vine cloaked in bluish-green to deep green rounded foliage. Flowers are followed by 1/4" red berries that are a treat for songbirds. This is a mannerly and manageable Honeysuckle that will happily twine through a 6' high chain link fence or up an 8-10' arbor, trellis, or post. Few other native woody vines can boast such a long flowering season as the Coral Honeysuckles making them our #1 pick for attracting hummingbirds. Provide a sunny, average moist, well-drained site for optimum vigor and flowering. Caterpillar host: Chalcedon Checkerspot. Image courtesy of North Creek Nurseries. Item# 9719

Tall spikes of glowing red to purplish-red, 2-3" tubular blooms are born in summer above the foliage of this tough native perennial. A drought tolerant and hardy shrublet that freezes back to the ground to return in spring. The flowers are followed by dark colored bean pods that split open to display their brilliant red-orange beans that can remain on the plant all winter. Excellent for Hummingbirds. Caterpillar host: Holly Blue. Item# 9408.