Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010
How to attract hummingbirds to your garden
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Michael O´Leary / The Herald
Anna's hummingbirds like this one will stay in your yard year-round if you provide enough nectar and nectar-producing plants.
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Justin Best / The Herald
Hardy fuchsia blooms like this one are a welcome sight to hummingbirds in the Northwest.
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Great Plant Picks
Charity, a mahonia hybrid, is a shrub that blooms to feed Anna´s hummingbirds right when they need it most — winter.
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Great Plant Picks Grevillea victoriae, also known as royal grevillea, produces unusual clusters of red-orange blooms that hummingbirds adore.
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Great Plant Picks Charity, a mahonia hybrid, is a shrub that blooms to feed Anna´s hummingbirds right when they need it most — winter.
If you've always adored hummingbirds, but hate filling and cleaning those ugly sugar-water feeders, there is something you can do.
Plant the birds a smorgasbord.
Gardening for hummingbirds is a matter of choosing plants that supply plenty of nectar. Luckily for green thumbs, many of the birds' favorite treats feature long bloom times and are worthy of a place in your landscape anyway.
Now is a great time to start thinking about hummingbird-friendly plants. Spring is when plant selection at nurseries is at its best.
It's also when the rufous hummingbird, which winters in Mexico, returns hungrily to the Northwest to join the year-round residents known as Anna's hummingbirds.
While numerous plants can be attractive to hummingbirds, including the relatively early blossoms of rosemary, there are some plants that will make hummingbirds fall crazy in love with your yard.
Master gardener Bob Barca, who has dubbed his Whidbey Island garden Hummingbird Hill, shared his top picks for hummingbird plants, ranging from soaring trees to low-growing perennials.
Today we give you a shopping list and shine a light on three to get you started.
Grevillea victoriae
What: Also known as royal grevillea or Victoria grevillea, this large, broadleaf evergreen shrub produces unusual clusters of red-orange blooms from late summer through early fall and, if the winter is mild enough, all the way until spring.
What it needs: Though this is the hardiest of the grevilleas — able to take temperatures below freezing — it does require a well-drained site and, ideally, full sun.
Plants will need a few years to establish themselves before they really get going.
Also, grevilleas don't like phosphorus, Barca said, so it's best to avoid fertilizers that contain high amounts of the element P in NPK on fertilizer packages.
Size: This grevillea can reach 10 feet tall and wide in 10 years, according to Great Plant Picks, a Shoreline-based plant program for savvy Northwest gardeners, which also gives this variety two green thumbs up.
Mahonia
What: Hybridization has turned this rangy little native known as Oregon grape into something spectacular for home gardeners and hummingbirds.
Barca prefers the variety known as Charity, a shrub that blooms to feed Anna's hummingbirds right when they need it most — winter.
Its vaselike shape, topped with playful sprays of golden flowers in winter, can be a dynamic focal point.
What it needs: Charity does best in part shade with protection from winter winds.
Size: If left unpruned, Charity can reach 15 feet tall. If pruned when young, the plant will reach 7 to 10 feet high and 4 to 5 feet wide, according to Great Plant Picks.
Hardy fuchsias
What: Hummingbirds aren't the only reason to plant these versatile plants, available in myriad sizes, colors and forms.
Not to be confused with annual fuchsias — bigger, more tender bloomers commonly placed in Mother's Day hanging baskets — these perennials usually die back in winter, but come back every year.
Their blooms, which can last from June to December, are smaller and more tubular, just right for a hummingbird's beak.
What it needs: Most fuchsias can get by with about six hours of full sun. Barca recommends morning sun and afternoon shade to avoid having to water new plants obsessively in summer.
Be sure to provide good drainage. Hardy fuchsias cannot survive winters with wet feet, said Snohomish County master gardener Madeleine “Frankie” Dennison of Kenmore.
Don't cut them back in early spring if you want them to increase in size. New growth can emerge from both the base of the plant and the previous year's wood, depending on the plant and the winter.
Size: Hardy fuchsias can range from just inches high to larger shrubs used for creating tall, dramatic borders. Fuchsias can also be planted in containers — the perfect way to draw hummingbirds to your deck — but they will require more water.
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.
Feeders are must
If you want hummingbirds to live in your yard year-round, plants will likely not be enough, especially during winter, said master gardener Bob Barca of Whidbey Island.
“I like to see them go to plants. It's so natural,” Barca said. “But birds don't discriminate. They don't care, as long as the nectar is there.”
You don't need fancy feeders to do the job, however. In fact, basic feeders are often the easiest to clean and refill. Here's how to get started:
Nectar: Fill feeders with sugar water, made by combining 4 parts hot water to 1 part white sugar, boiled for 2 minutes. Avoid red food coloring. Be sure to change the water in feeders regularly, before it gets cloudy.
Space: Hummingbirds are territorial. Instead of one large feeder, hang several smaller ones in different locations. Keep feeders far enough apart so the birds can't see each other.
Shade: Hang feeders in the shade to discourage fermentation, mold and spoilage of the sugar water.
Sanitation: Clean feeders with a solution of 1 part white vinegar to 4 parts water about once a week. Rinse thoroughly before refilling.
Water: Hummingbirds like to bathe frequently and can even use pools of droplets that collect on leaves. They prefer small fountains with moving water rather than large ponds, Barca said.
Protein: Share your yard with spiders and bugs and avoid the use of pesticides. Hummingbirds need protein from pollen and insects. Baby hummingbirds feed almost exclusively on insects.
You can provide extra protein by hanging a basket with overripe fruit or banana peels nearby to attract tiny fruit flies.
Master Gardeners and Audubon.org
Hummingbird shopping list
Perennials
Agastache
Bee balm (monarda)
Bleeding heart (dicentra)
California fuchsia (epilobium)
Cape fuchsia (phygelius)
Columbine
Crocosmia
Hardy fuchsias
Penstemon
Phlox
Red hot poker (kniphofia uvaria)
Salvia
Shrubs and vines
Grevillea victoriae
Himalayan honeysuckle (leycesteria)
Oregon grape (mahonia)
Red flowering currant (ribes sanguineum)
Strawberry tree (arbutus unedo)
Trees
Red horsechestnut (aesculus x carnea)
Red buckeye (aesculus pavia)
Chilean fire tree (embothrium coccineum)
Plant the birds a smorgasbord.
Gardening for hummingbirds is a matter of choosing plants that supply plenty of nectar. Luckily for green thumbs, many of the birds' favorite treats feature long bloom times and are worthy of a place in your landscape anyway.
Now is a great time to start thinking about hummingbird-friendly plants. Spring is when plant selection at nurseries is at its best.
It's also when the rufous hummingbird, which winters in Mexico, returns hungrily to the Northwest to join the year-round residents known as Anna's hummingbirds.
While numerous plants can be attractive to hummingbirds, including the relatively early blossoms of rosemary, there are some plants that will make hummingbirds fall crazy in love with your yard.
Master gardener Bob Barca, who has dubbed his Whidbey Island garden Hummingbird Hill, shared his top picks for hummingbird plants, ranging from soaring trees to low-growing perennials.
Today we give you a shopping list and shine a light on three to get you started.
Grevillea victoriae
What: Also known as royal grevillea or Victoria grevillea, this large, broadleaf evergreen shrub produces unusual clusters of red-orange blooms from late summer through early fall and, if the winter is mild enough, all the way until spring.
What it needs: Though this is the hardiest of the grevilleas — able to take temperatures below freezing — it does require a well-drained site and, ideally, full sun.
Plants will need a few years to establish themselves before they really get going.
Also, grevilleas don't like phosphorus, Barca said, so it's best to avoid fertilizers that contain high amounts of the element P in NPK on fertilizer packages.
Size: This grevillea can reach 10 feet tall and wide in 10 years, according to Great Plant Picks, a Shoreline-based plant program for savvy Northwest gardeners, which also gives this variety two green thumbs up.
Mahonia
What: Hybridization has turned this rangy little native known as Oregon grape into something spectacular for home gardeners and hummingbirds.
Barca prefers the variety known as Charity, a shrub that blooms to feed Anna's hummingbirds right when they need it most — winter.
Its vaselike shape, topped with playful sprays of golden flowers in winter, can be a dynamic focal point.
What it needs: Charity does best in part shade with protection from winter winds.
Size: If left unpruned, Charity can reach 15 feet tall. If pruned when young, the plant will reach 7 to 10 feet high and 4 to 5 feet wide, according to Great Plant Picks.
Hardy fuchsias
What: Hummingbirds aren't the only reason to plant these versatile plants, available in myriad sizes, colors and forms.
Not to be confused with annual fuchsias — bigger, more tender bloomers commonly placed in Mother's Day hanging baskets — these perennials usually die back in winter, but come back every year.
Their blooms, which can last from June to December, are smaller and more tubular, just right for a hummingbird's beak.
What it needs: Most fuchsias can get by with about six hours of full sun. Barca recommends morning sun and afternoon shade to avoid having to water new plants obsessively in summer.
Be sure to provide good drainage. Hardy fuchsias cannot survive winters with wet feet, said Snohomish County master gardener Madeleine “Frankie” Dennison of Kenmore.
Don't cut them back in early spring if you want them to increase in size. New growth can emerge from both the base of the plant and the previous year's wood, depending on the plant and the winter.
Size: Hardy fuchsias can range from just inches high to larger shrubs used for creating tall, dramatic borders. Fuchsias can also be planted in containers — the perfect way to draw hummingbirds to your deck — but they will require more water.
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.
Feeders are must
If you want hummingbirds to live in your yard year-round, plants will likely not be enough, especially during winter, said master gardener Bob Barca of Whidbey Island.
“I like to see them go to plants. It's so natural,” Barca said. “But birds don't discriminate. They don't care, as long as the nectar is there.”
You don't need fancy feeders to do the job, however. In fact, basic feeders are often the easiest to clean and refill. Here's how to get started:
Nectar: Fill feeders with sugar water, made by combining 4 parts hot water to 1 part white sugar, boiled for 2 minutes. Avoid red food coloring. Be sure to change the water in feeders regularly, before it gets cloudy.
Space: Hummingbirds are territorial. Instead of one large feeder, hang several smaller ones in different locations. Keep feeders far enough apart so the birds can't see each other.
Shade: Hang feeders in the shade to discourage fermentation, mold and spoilage of the sugar water.
Sanitation: Clean feeders with a solution of 1 part white vinegar to 4 parts water about once a week. Rinse thoroughly before refilling.
Water: Hummingbirds like to bathe frequently and can even use pools of droplets that collect on leaves. They prefer small fountains with moving water rather than large ponds, Barca said.
Protein: Share your yard with spiders and bugs and avoid the use of pesticides. Hummingbirds need protein from pollen and insects. Baby hummingbirds feed almost exclusively on insects.
You can provide extra protein by hanging a basket with overripe fruit or banana peels nearby to attract tiny fruit flies.
Master Gardeners and Audubon.org
Hummingbird shopping list
Perennials
Agastache
Bee balm (monarda)
Bleeding heart (dicentra)
California fuchsia (epilobium)
Cape fuchsia (phygelius)
Columbine
Crocosmia
Hardy fuchsias
Penstemon
Phlox
Red hot poker (kniphofia uvaria)
Salvia
Shrubs and vines
Grevillea victoriae
Himalayan honeysuckle (leycesteria)
Oregon grape (mahonia)
Red flowering currant (ribes sanguineum)
Strawberry tree (arbutus unedo)
Trees
Red horsechestnut (aesculus x carnea)
Red buckeye (aesculus pavia)
Chilean fire tree (embothrium coccineum)
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