Hummingbird Gardening

How to Attract Hummingbirds to Your Yard or Deck

May 17, 2008

The best way to entice hummingbirds to visit is by providing their favorite flowers and offering one or more feeders with nectar that you make yourself.

The key strategies for hummingbird gardening are to offer lots of brightly colored flowers, particularly in shades of red, put up a feeder with your own homemade nectar and avoid the use of dangerous chemical pesticides.

Use Natural Pest Control

When planning a garden to attract hummingbirds, it is important not to use pesticides or anything else that might be harmful to them. Hummingbirds may ingest these toxins on flowers and be poisoned. Instead, you can plant marigold and mint, which act as natural insect repellents.

Another method of natural pest control is attracting ladybugs to your garden. Plants that attract ladybugs include Angelica, Caraway, Cilantro, Coreopsis, Cosmos (particularly white), Dandelions, Dill, Fennel, Geraniums, Tansy and Yarrow. Ladybugs can also be purchased from certain garden supply stores.

Choose Plants and Trees with Colorful Flowers

Hummingbirds choose flowers based on color and visibility. The colors that most attract hummingbirds are deep blues, bold pinks, red-oranges and bright reds, with red being the ultimate favourite.

The best types of flowers to attract hummingbirds are wall climber and tubular flowers on tall stems. Flowers should ideally be wild native species with a long blooming period.

Some of the best plants for attracting hummingbirds include:

Beebalm or Oswego Tea (Monarda Didyma)
Canada Lily (Lilium Canadense)
Cardinal Flower, (Lobelia Cardinalis)
Trumpet Creeper (Campsis Radicans)
Indian Pink, (Spigelia Marilandica)
Mountain Rosebay or Catawba Rhododendron (Rhododendron Catawbiense)
Red Buckeye (Aesculus Pavia)
Red Columbine (Aquilegia Canadense)
Spotted Jewelweed (Impatiens Capensis)
Sunset Hyssop, Licorice Mint (Agastache Rupestris, Agastache Canna)
Indian Shot (Canna Indica)
Mexican Cigar Plant (Cuphea “David Verity”)
Honeysuckle Fuchsia, “Gartenmeister Bonstedt” Fuchsia (Fuchsia Triphylla)
Standing Cypress, Spanish Larkspur (Ipomopsis Rubra)
Honeysuckle (Lonicera Sempervirens)
Red Tropical Sage, Texas Sage, Scarlet Sage (Salvia Coccinea)
Anise Sage (Salvia Guaranitica)

Hummingbirds have no sense of smell so they rely on visual cues to find food sources. You can maximize the visibility of your garden or deck using red ribbons, streamers or other red objects on display to capture the attention of hummingbirds.

Provide a Hummingbird Feeder

Hummingbird feeders can be purchased from most garden stores or centers. The best ones are the hummingbird’s favorite color – bright red. Feeders should be filled with natural rather than instant nectar, which often contains food coloring and other unhealthy ingredients.

Hang the feeder in a highly visible place where it will be easy for hummingbirds to reach, preferably in an open area where the hummingbirds can spot approaching predators, or ideally, out of reach of predators. Clean the feeder and replace the nectar at least once a week, and preferably every 3 days to prevent bacteria buildup.

How to Make Hummingbird Nectar

Add 1/4 cup of organic cane sugar to 1 cup of boiling water, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove the mixture from the stove and let it cool completely before adding it to the hummingbird feeder. You can make larger batches, as long as the mixture is always 4 parts water to 1 part sugar. Excess homemade nectar can be kept in the fridge for 3-4 weeks.

Never use honey or artificial sweeteners in a hummingbird feeder. Honey can cause hummingbirds to develop a tongue fungus, and artificial sweeteners have no nutritional value.