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 lovely flowers hummingbirds feed on to get the delicious floral nectar they depend on. This list includes flowering plants, shrubs, trees, perennial plants, and flowering annuals.
- Aloe (Aloe Vera, Gold Tooth Aloe)
- Arbutus Trees (Strawberry Trees, Madrone Trees)
- American Tiger Lily (Turk’s Cap Lily, Lily Royal, Swamp Lily)
- Apple Tree
- Asiatic Lily (Red Velvet, Red Tiger Lily)
- Azalea
- Bee Balm (Scarlet Bee Balm, Oswego Tea, Wild Bergamot)
- Begonia
- Betony (Hedgenettle, Bishop’s Wort)
- Blazing Star
- Blackberry
- Bleeding Heart
- Blueberry
- Bottlebrush (Callistemon)
- Bouvardia
- Butterfly Bush
- Cactus (Scarlet Hedgehog, Desert Rose)
- Calamints
- Campion (Red Campion, Red Catchfly, Royal Catchfly)
- Canna Lily
- Cardinal Climber
- Catmint (Catnip)
- Centropogon (genus)
- Century Plant (American Agave, Sentry Plant)
- Cherry Tree
- Chokecherry Bush
- Chuparosa (Hummingbird Bush, Beloperone)
- Clematis
- Clover (Red Clover)
- Columbine (Red Columbine, Scarlet Columbine)
- Coral Bells (Heuchera)
- Coral Honeysuckle (Trumpet Honeysuckle, Scarlet Honeysuckle)
- Coralberry
- Crabapple
- Crossvine
- Cuphea (Cigar Plant)
- Cypress Vine
- Daylily
- Delphinium (Larkspur)
- Desert Lavender
- Desert Willow
- Dianthus (Clove Pink, Carnation)
- Dogwood
- Eucalyptus (Gum Tree)
- Fire Bush (Scarlet Bush, Hummingbird Bush)
- Fire Pink
- Fireweed
- Foxglove
- Fuchsia
- Geiger Tree
- Geranium
- Gladiolus
- Gooseberry
- Hawthorn (Quickthorn, Thornapple, May Tree)
- Heliconia (Lobster-Claws)
- Hibiscus (Rose Mallow, Tropical Hibiscus)
- Hollyhock
- Honeysuckle (prefer natives such as Twinberry Honeysuckle, Orange Honeysuckle)
- Huckleberry
- Hummingbird Trumpet (California Fuchsia, Firechalice)
- Hyssop
- Impatiens (Jewelweed, Touch-Me-Not)
- Indian Paintbrush (Prarie Fire, Scarlet Paintbrush)
- Iris
- Jacobina (Justicia, Brazilian Plume, Flamingo Flower)
- Japanese Quince (Maule’s Quince)
- Lantana
- Lilac
- Lion’s Ear (Lion’s Tail, Wild Dagga)
- Lobelia
- Lupine
- Manzanita
- Mexican Sunflower (Tree Marigold)
- Mimosa (Sleepy Plant, Shy Plant)
- Mountain Pennyroyal
- Nasturtium
- Ocotillo
- Pear Tree
- Penstemon (Scarlet Penstemon, Beardtongue)
- Petunia (Red, Scarlet)
- Phlox (Red and Pink Types)
- Pink Jasmine
- Red Buckeye (Firecracker Plant)
- Red Cardinal Flower (Native Lobelia)
- Red-Hot Poker (Torch Lily)
- Red-Flowering Currant
- Redbud Tree
- Rhododendron
- Rose of Sharon (Shrub Hibiscus, Hardy Hibiscus)
- Salmonberry
- Salvia (Red Salvia, Scarlet Sage, Scarlet Salvia, Pineapple Sage, Pitcher Sage)
- Scarlet Gilia (Scarlet Trumpet, Skyrocket)
- Scarlet Morning Glory (Scarlet Creeper)
- Scarlet Runner Bean
- Serviceberry (Juneberry, Saskatoon Berry)
- Shrimp Plant
- Snapdragon
- Spider Flower (Cleome)
- Thistle (native, such as Western Thistle)
- Tobacco Tree (Wild Tobacco)
- Trumpet Creeper (Trumpet Vine)
- Verbena (Vervain)
- Violet (Viola, Wild Pansy)
- Weigelia
- Yucca (Desert Candle)
- 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
“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 aren’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
- A 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 hummingbird’s dream is a trumpet vine or honeysuckle with lots of long flowers close together!
“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!
