top of page

Hummingbird Gardens

You’ll probably hear a hummingbird before you see it, making noise like a very large bee. The ruby throated hummingbird may look delicate as it hovers among the flowers, but this amazing 1/4-ounce bird completes a migratory flight of nearly 2,000 miles from its breeding grounds in the eastern United States and Canada to the Jacksonville area where it winters. Some go another 600 miles over the Gulf of Mexico to Central America! To attract hummingbirds, flowers evolved bright colors and stand out from the plant’s leaves, so hummers can easily hover over them. Hummingbirds favor flowers that are red or orange, tubular and full of dilute nectar. If you hang a banana peel or half an orange nearby, you’ll also attract fruit flies that they love to eat. 

See the plant list below. Attracting this delightful bird to your yard will provide you with hours of entertainment watching the acrobatics of this energetic little bird as he hovers in mid air to feed from your plants or feeders. Set up a birdbath with a mister. The hummingbirds will fly through the mist to cool off. 

Do not use pesticide in your garden because that will kill the small bugs that hummingbirds eat for protein.Feeders are more work than plants: mix 1/4 cup of plain table sugar with 1 cup of boiling water. Boiling the water assures you that all sugar crystals will be completely dissolved. Using red dye can harm them. Once hummingbirds have found the feeder, the color is not important. They will happily drink nectar that is clear colored as long as you have some red ribbon hanging there and usually the feeder is red. Allow to cool completely before filling and hanging outside. Hang in shaded areas near shrubs or bushes that will provide shelter for the hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are territorial and will fight to claim their food source. Check the feeder daily and fill whenever necessary. Generally, you should clean and refill your feeder on a weekly basis. Simply wash with one part white vinegar plus four parts water and add dry rice to scrub.  Use a bottle brush to remove traces of black mold in the base or in corners. Use a toothbrush to clean the yellow sippers.

Vines 
Bignonia capreolata/Cross Vine* 
Campsis radicans/Trumpet Vine* 
Lonicera sempervirens/Coral Honeysuckle* 

Perennials 
Agastache Aquilegia canadensis/Columbine* 
Coleus 
Dicliptera suberecta/Hummingbird Plant 
Echinacea purpurea/Coneflower* 
Erythrina herbacea/Coralbean* 
Fuchsia 
Hibiscus coccineus/Scarlet Hibiscus* 
Ipomopsis rubra/Standing Cypress* 
Jatropha integerrima/Coral Plant 
Lantana depressa* 
Lobelia cardinalis/Cardinal Flower* 
Monarda punctata/Dotted Horsemint* 
Odontonema cuspidatum/Firespike 
Penstemon/Beard-tongue 
Ruellia elegans 
Salvia coccinea/Red Sage* 
Salvia greggii, elegans, leucantha and other salvias 
Silene regia/Royal Catchfly* 

Shrubs 
Buddleia/Butterfly Bush 
Clethra ‘Ruby Spice’/Summersweet* 

Trees
 Aesculus pavia/Red Buckeye* 
Cercis canadensis/Redbud* 
Liriodendron tulipifera/Tulip Tree* 
Malus angustifolia/Southern Crabtree*

We carry plants in our nursery for DIY hummingbird garden projects.

 

​

​

Plants and Butterflies attracted...

  • Dyschoriste oblongifolia/Twinflower* sBuckeye

  • Ruellia caroliniensis/Wild Petunia* s-shBuckeye

  • Asimina parviflora and A. triloba/Pawpaw* s-sh

  • Zebra Swallowtail

  • Anethum graveolens/Dill s

  • Black Swallowtail

  • Daucus/Carrot or Queen Ann’s Lace s

  • Black Swallowtail

  • Foeniculum vulgare/Fennel s

  • Black Swallowtail

  • Petroselinum/Curly Parsley s

  • Black Swallowtail

  • Aristolochia elegans, A. gigantea/Pipevine s

  • Black & Pipevine Swallowtail

  • Asclepias tuberosa, A. incarnata/Milkweed s

  • Queen & Monarch

  • Brassica/Cabbage or Mustard sCabbage White

  • Canna flacida/Canna* sCanna Skipper

  • Impatiens shvarious

  • Amorpha fruticosa/False Indigo* s-sh

  • Silver Spotted Skipper

  • Senna chapmanii/Cassia* s

  • Orange Barred Sulphur

  • Quercus/Oaks* s

  • Dusky Wing Skipper & White M Hairstreak

  • Sassafras albidum* s

  • Spicebush Swallowtail

  • Lindera benzoin/Spicebush* s-sh

  • Spicebush Swallowtail

  • Liriodendron tulipifera/Tulip Tree* sTiger Swallowtail

  • Magnolia virginiana/Sweetbay Magnolia* s-shTiger Swallowtail

  • Salvia ssp/Sages* s-shvarious

  • Cephalanthus occidentalis/Buttonbush* s

  • Checkered Skipper

  • Althea rosea/Hollyhocks s

  • Checkered Skipper

  • Hamelia patens/Firebush* svarious

  • Callirhoe papaver/Poppy Mallow* s-sh

  • Checkered Skipper

  • Cercis Canadensis/Redbud* sZebra Longwing

  • Passiflora incarnata/Passionflower Vine* s-sh

  • Zebra Longwing & Gulf Fritillary

  • Passiflora suberosa/Corky-stemmed* sGulf Fritillary

  • Odontonema/Firespike shvarious

  • Plumbago auriculata/Leadwort s-shCassius Blue

  • Phoradendron serotinum/Mistletoe s-sh

  • Great Purple Hairstreak

  • Tripsacum dactyloides/Eastern Gamagrass* s-shClouded Skipper

  • Buddleia/Butterfly Bush svarious

  • Prunus serotina/Wild Cherry*

  • Red Spotted Purple & Tiger Swallowtail

  • Citrus/Orange and other fruit s

  • Giant Swallowtail

  • Zanthoxylum clava herculis/Hercules Club* s-sh

  • Giant Swallowtail

  • Ptelea trifoliata/Wafer Ash or Hoptree* s-sh

  • Giant Swallowtail

  • Tropaeolaceae/Nasturtium s

  • Great Southern White

  • Celtis laevigata/Hackberry* s

  • Hackberry, Question Mark, Stout & Tawny Emperor

  • Asters* sPearl Crescent

  • Pentas svarious

  • Stachytarpheta/Porterweed svarious

  • Lantana depressa* svarious

  • Vaccinium ssp/Blueberry* s-shvarious

  • Vernonia/Ironweed* s

  • Butterflies Attracted

bottom of page