Planning a Hummingbird Garden

Planning a hummingbird garden is easy—all you need to do is supply the right flowers and nectar to attract Hummingbirds to your yard.

Planning a hummingbird garden is easy—all you need to do is supply the right flowers and nectar for them and they'll likely come back year after year. Here are some of their favorite flowers:

Bee Balm

(Monarda didyma)

Perennial; Zones 4 to 9

Blooms: Summer

Color: Red

Size: 3 to 5 feet tall; spreads 18 to 36 inches.

Care: Moist moderately fertile soil; light shade to full sun. Deadhead flowers to keep them blooming and to limit reseeding.

Butterfly Bush

(Buddleja species)

Shrub; Zones 4 to 9

Color: Purple, pink and white

Blooms: Summer to fall.

Size: 6 to 15 feet tall; 4 to 10 feet wide.

Care: Grow in sun to light shade. Considered invasive in some regions.

Butterfly Weed

(Asclepias tuberosa)

Perennial; Zones 4 to 9

Color: Orange

Blooms: Summer to fall.

Size: 1-1/2 to 3 feet tall; spreads 12 inches wide.

Care: Moist well-drained to dry soil; full sun. These plants will wander to where they're best suited in your garden.

Cardinal Flower

(Lobelia cardinalis)

Perennial; Zones 3 to 9

Color: Red

Blooms: Summer

Size: 3 to 4feet tall; 2 feet wide.

Care: Fertile and moist soil, partial shade to full sun. Works beautifully with other native plantings.

Columbine

(Aquilegia species)

Perennial; Zones 3 to 9

Blooms: Spring to early summer.

Color: Red, pink, blue, purple

Size: 1 to 3 feet tall; 6 to 24 inches wide.

Care: Low-maintenance plants that prefer moist, but not wet, soil. Reseeds itself.

Fuchsia

(Fuchsia species)

Perennial; Zones 10 to 11; annual to north.

Color: Red, pinks, purple, white.

Blooms: Until frost.

Size: Trailing to 3 feet or available in shrub form.

Care: Requires moist soil: check pots twice a day in hot weather. Pinch back flowers.

Phlox

(Phlox species)

Perennial; Zones 3 to 8

Color: Pink, red, blue and purple.

Blooms: Spring to fall.

Size: Up to 3 feet tall; 12 to 24 inches wide.

Care: Needs well-draining soil in full sun. Deadhead to extend their bloom time.

Salvia

(Salvia splendens)

Annual

Color: Red

Blooms: Until frost.

Size: 1 to 3 inches tall; 9 to 12 inches wide.

Care: Keep soil at roots cool and moist; grow in full sun. Deadhead flowers to keep blooming.

Snapdragon

(Antirrhinum)

Annual

Color: Varies with variety

Blooms: Until frost.

Size: 6 inches to 4 feet tall; 6 inches to 2 feet wide.

Care: Grows in full sun to part shade in moist soil. Regular deadheading needed.

Trumpet Vine

(Campsis radicans)

Perennial; Zones 4 to 9

Color: Orange-red

Blooms: Summer.

Size: Climbs to 40 feet.

Care: Grow in full sun in moist to dry soil. Tolerates poor soil and needs little to no fertilizer.