Attracting Hummingbirds To Your Garden With Native Plants

As if by magic, hummingbirds arrive almost as soon as you provide the right plants or a red hummingbird feeder. One can attract and feed hummingbirds with feeders alone but you will find that combining hummingbird attractant plants will be a very rewarding effort. In Florida you can have something in bloom the majority of the year which will feed the birds. One of the great things about Florida plants is the abundance of nectar, fruit and cover they provide. The nectar attracts butterflies, birds and bugs. Bugs are a good thing because many birds require insects for food. Hummingbirds must feed their babies insects.

Blooming season is important if you want to keep hummingbirds around your home. Nesting hummingbirds  will need nectar from March to September. Plant a variety of plants that bloom during different times of the year (especially spring and fall), and plant them in masses.   It is important to keep your plants free of pesticides. Pesticides destroy  the insect food base vital to hummingbirds and their offspring, and may also contaminate the nectar they drink. Nesting hummingbirds are very aggressive and territorial around their food source. Having more than one area with attractant flowers and feeders will allow several hummers to feed at the same time.

It is thought that the hummingbirds have a binocular type vision that can spot a red flower or feeder from  3/4 of a mile away. Their favorite colors are red , orange and pink. Flowers that are tubular or in loose drooping clusters  are best. Some of their favorite native plants are Coral Bean, Firebush, Red Star Hibiscus, Swamp Azalea, Coral Honeysuckle, Trumpet Vine, Cross Vine, Butterfly Milkweed, Red Basil, Cardinal Flower, Obedient Plant, Scarlet Morning Glory, Cypress Vine, Standing Cypress, and Tropical Sage. Hummingbirds frequently seek out willows for nesting sites.

There are also a variety of hummingbird attractant non-native plants that thrive in our zone. Some favorites are Red Bee Balm, Pineapple Sage, Four o’clocks, Shrimp Plant, Geranium, Cigar Plant, Firespike, many Salvia varieties,  Gingers and Butterfly Bushes.
            
One hummingbirds may need  nectar from hundreds of  blossoms every day to maintain its body weight.  Hummingbirds can lick at a rate of 13 times per second, and their stomach is capable of holding about .18 ounces of nectar at one time. For their size, hummingbirds have the largest appetite in the bird world. They feed every 10 or 15  minutes  from dawn to dusk.. Just before dark they eat as much as they can to help them survive the hours they cannot feed. During the night their heart rate  and body temperature drop to conserve energy. If they did not go into this sort of daily hibernation  stage, they likely would starve.
 
Providing artificial feeders will help you supply the large amount of nectar they require.