Hummingbird Attractors

Ruby-throated Hummingbird, by taffyknits (me!)

I have a customer who likes to have hummingbirds visit her garden, and she makes sure many of her plants are nectar sources for these teeny birds, in addition to the feeders she puts out.
She stopped by and got an Ultraviolet Sage, and told me she would definitely get the Ruttya Fruticosa if I knew for sure whether or not hummingbirds like it. My husband calls it Jammy Mouth, but everywhere else I've found it, it's called Rabbit Ears.

Ruttya Fruticosa or Rabbit Ears. Large evergreen shrub in zones 8-11 that flowers year-round if there is no frost. For you snowbirds, it's a good houseplant during the winter, and you can put it outside in the summer for birds to feed on the blooms!

Well, in researching this plant, I found a whole bunch of other plants we carry that will attract hummingbirds, and I got so excited about it, it's my theme for my booth in Lakeland, this Saturday at the Curb Market.


Orange Zest Cestrum (small tree/large shrub with leaves that smell like peanut butter!)

The one plant that surprised me, though Jim already knew it, was Red Yucca. It's supposed to bloom in the summertime, but for some reason one in our nursery felt happy and it's blooming. It shoots out a 5-ft tall stalk with showers of pink flowers all over it. It's in the agave family, so aloe is another one that would be good in a hummingbird garden.


Here's what's on my list to carry:
Salvias! Jim says just about any kind will do, but I have Ultraviolet Sage, Mexican Sage, Compton's Beauty, Scarlet Pineapple Sage, Faye Chapel, and Indigo Spires.

Tacoma Stans, or Yellow Bells - another tall woody shrub that is blooming right now
Cestrum, Orange Zest
Crocossmia (a bulb, orange blooming in the spring)
Cuphea Cigar Plant
Shrimp Plant Fruit Cocktail
Rabbit Ears
Hummingbird Plant
Red Yucca
Black Adder Hyssop (any Agastache member seems to be a great one)
Orange Milkweed
Fire Bush (that's one outside my window where I have spotted Ruby-throated Hummingbirds).
Coral Honeysuckle
Other ones we have but I may or may not bring are day lilies, agapanthus, gayfeather (liatris) and Indian Paintbrush (we only have one and I'm not allowed to sell it)

I think it'll be fun. Butterfly Gardens are a hot topic of conversation, but I'll put a different twist on it with Hummingbird Gardens.

Jim will also have a booth in Lake Wales, at Pioneer Day Festival. It's a lot of fun! Who knew our little town could hold so many people. Come for the architecture tours, the pretty lake scenery and just a cheery festival atmosphere.