101+ hummingbird flowers

Hummingbird flowers are any type of beautiful blooms that attract hummingbirds to your garden! Here are the top five hummingbird flowers for North American gardens:

• Trumpet Vine
• Columbine
• Honeysuckle
• Cardinal Flower
• Bee Balm

While these five flowers are hummingbird hits, there are plenty of other types of flowers they can draw nectar from and pollinate. Read on to see the full list of flowers for hummingbirds!

List of hummingbird flowers

Here are some of the lovely flowers that hummingbirds feed on to get the delicious floral nectar they depend on. This list includes flowering plants, shrubs, and trees, as well as garden perennial plants and flowering annuals.

1. Aloe (Aloe Vera, Gold Tooth Aloe)
2. Arbutus Trees (Strawberry Trees, Madrone Trees)
3. American Tiger Lily (Turk’s Cap Lily, Lily Royal, Swamp Lily)
4. Apple Tree
5. Asiatic Lily (Red Velvet, Red Tiger Lily)
6. Azalea
7. Bee Balm (Scarlet Bee Balm, Oswego Tea, Wild Bergamot) *TOP HUMMINGBIRD FLOWER*
8. Begonia
9. Betony (Hedgenettle, Bishop’s Wort)
10. Blazing Star
11. Blackberry
12. Bleeding Heart
13. Blueberry
14. Bottlebrush (Callistemon)
15. Bouvardia
16. Butterfly Bush
17. Cactus (Scarlet Hedgehog, Desert Rose)
18. Calamints
19. Campion (Red Campion, Red Catchfly, Royal Catchfly)
20. Canna Lily
21. Cardinal Climber
22. Catmint (Catnip)
23. Centropogon (genus)
24. Century Plant (American Agave, Sentry Plant)
25. Cherry Tree
26. Chokecherry Bush
27. Chuparosa (Hummingbird Bush, Beloperone)
28. Clematis
29. Clover (Red Clover)
30. Columbine (Red Columbine, Scarlet Columbine) *TOP HUMMINGBIRD FLOWER*
31. Coral Bells (Heuchera)
32. Coral Honeysuckle (Trumpet Honeysuckle, Scarlet Honeysuckle)
33. Coralberry
34. Crabapple
35. Crossvine
36. Cuphea (Cigar Plant)
37. Cypress Vine
38. Daylily
39. Delphinium (Larkspur)
40. Desert Lavender
41. Desert Willow
42. Dianthus (Clove Pink, Carnation)
43. Dogwood
44. Eucalyptus (Gum Tree)
45. Fire Bush (Scarlet Bush, Hummingbird Bush)
46. Fire Pink
47. Fireweed
48. Foxglove
49. Fuchsia
50. Geiger Tree
51. Geranium
52. Gladiolus
53. Gooseberry
54. Hawthorn (Quickthorn, Thornapple, May Tree)
55. Heliconia (Lobster-Claws)
56. Hibiscus (Rose Mallow, Tropical Hibiscus)
57. Hollyhock
58. Honeysuckle (prefer natives such as Twinberry Honeysuckle, Orange Honeysuckle) *TOP HUMMINGBIRD FLOWER*
59. Huckleberry
60. Hummingbird Trumpet (California Fuchsia, Firechalice)
61. Hyssop
62. Impatiens (Jewelweed, Touch-Me-Not)
63. Indian Paintbrush (Prarie Fire, Scarlet Paintbrush)
64. Iris
65. Jacobina (Justicia, Brazilian Plume, Flamingo Flower)
66. Japanese Quince (Maule’s Quince)
67. Lantana
68. Lilac
69. Lion’s Ear (Lion’s Tail, Wild Dagga)
70. Lobelia
71. Lupine
72. Manzanita
73. Mexican Sunflower (Tree Marigold)
74. Mimosa (Sleepy Plant, Shy Plant)
75. Mountain Pennyroyal
76. Nasturtium
77. Ocotillo
78. Pear Tree
79. Penstemon (Scarlet Penstemon, Beardtongue)
80. Petunia (Red, Scarlet)
81. Phlox (Red and Pink Types)
82. Pink Jasmine
83. Red Buckeye (Firecracker Plant)
84. Red Cardinal Flower (Native Lobelia) *TOP HUMMINGBIRD FLOWER*
85. Red-Hot Poker (Torch Lily)
86. Red-Flowering Currant
87. Redbud Tree
88. Rhododendron
89. Rose of Sharon (Shrub Hibiscus, Hardy Hibiscus)
90. Salmonberry
91. Salvia (Red Salvia, Scarlet Sage, Scarlet Salvia, Pineapple Sage, Pitcher Sage)
92. Scarlet Gilia (Scarlet Trumpet, Skyrocket)
93. Scarlet Morning Glory (Scarlet Creeper)
94. Scarlet Runner Bean
95. Serviceberry (Juneberry, Saskatoon Berry)
96. Shrimp Plant
97. Snapdragon
98. Spider Flower (Cleome)
99. Thistle (native, such as Western Thistle)
100. Tobacco Tree (Wild Tobacco)
101. Trumpet Creeper (Trumpet Vine) *TOP HUMMINGBIRD FLOWER*
102. Verbena (Vervain)
103. Violet (Viola, Wild Pansy)
104. Weigelia
105. Yucca (Desert Candle)
106. Zinnia (Benary’s Giant Deep Red)

Ok – So I couldn’t keep the list down to 101 flowers for hummingbirds! It’s too hard to choose…

“An item to remember when selecting flowers for hummers is that most cultivated hybrids, which include many garden flowers, usually produce significantly less nectar than non-hybrids. Also, an assortment of flowers with staggered blossoming will give the birds a longer time to feed “in the wild.”

Hummingbirds of North America: Attracting, Feeding, and Photographing, by Dan True

The best flowers for a hummingbird garden

So which of these hummingbird flowers are the best ones to plant in your hummingbird garden? While all the flowers listed above can attract hummingbirds, there are a few that hummers tend to find irresistible. They are all red-colored tubular flowers that are native to North America.

As mentioned in the first section, here are the top 5 hummingbird flowers:

• Trumpet Vine
• Columbine
• Honeysuckle
• Cardinal Flower
• Bee Balm

You can also buy blends of seeds that have been put together specifically for hummingbird gardens. These seed blends will also attract butterflies and bees, further increasing the longevity and healthiness of the garden.

“Certain plant families are particularly important for hummingbirds, some of the most notable being the Heliconiaceae, Bromeliaceae, Ericaceae, Rubiaceae, Acanthaceae, and Gesneriaceae. These flowers are ornithophilous, or bird-loving, and exhibit clear adaptations for pollination by hummingbirds. Most of them are either red, or have red bracts or leaves that advertise their presence, red being a color that is conspicuous to hummingbirds but not to most insect competitors.”

Hummingbirds: A Life-Size Guide to Every Species, by Michael Fogden, Marianne Taylor, and Sheri L. Williamson

Common traits of hummingbird flowers in general

So what makes a good flower for a hummingbird? Visiting hummingbirds like flowers with a certain amount of sugar, in safe areas, and that isn’t overrun by too many competing pollinators such as bees and butterflies.

Common traits of hummingbird flowers include:

• Red, bright pink, or dark orange
• Tube-shaped (tubular corolla)
• Low in fragrance and sugar
• High volume of nectar
• Bloom in the daytime
• Have a long bloom duration

The best nectar-rich flowers for your garden are long tubular flowers. Shorter tubular flowers contain less nectar but often grow in groups, making the nectar collection worth the extra visits. A trumpet vine or honeysuckle with lots of long flowers close together is a hummingbird’s dream!

“Hummingbird enthusiasts and experts agree that the color red is like a magnet to hummers, followed by bright pink and orange. Some research has shown that yellow is the next color of choice. However, we have found that quite a few purple, lavender, and blue nectar-producing plants are irresistible to these tiny birds-particularly some of the salvias.”

Enjoying Hummingbirds In the Wild & In Your Yard, by Larry & Terrie Gates

So, what flowers are you hoping to grow in your garden to feed our pollinating hummingbirds? Do you supplement your flower garden’s natural nectar supply with hummingbird sugar-water feed and hummingbird feeders? So much to think about. ..Time to get gardening!

Further Reading: Feeding and Attracting Hummingbirds to Your Yard and 10 Hummingbird Garden Ideas