Category: Ornaments

Best Flowers That Attract Hummingbirds

10 Best Flowers That Attract Hummingbirds to Your Garden

Hummingbirds are one of the most fascinating and beautiful birds you can add to your backyard. If you’re an avid gardener or even a novice and want these wonderful creatures to come closer to you, planting flowers that attract hummingbirds is the first step. Let’s take a look at these top 10 best flowers that attract hummingbirds:

Butterfly Weed

There are many varieties of Butterfly Weed (also known as Indian Blanket), but the orange and red varieties are the most effective for attracting hummingbirds. These plants bloom all year round, making them an excellent choice for zones 8 and above. Their flowers are about 4 inches long, with the top petals orange and the bottom red. These are called feeders because hummingbirds use them to drink nectar.

Cardinal Flower

You’ll find this flower in sunny areas growing in wild meadows and along fences. It has a small purple flower with five petals. A single flower head can produce up to 30 flowers. Hummingbirds love to sip from their long, tubular red-colored flowers. They’re a perfect choice for areas with full sun to partial shade.

Salvias

Several annual and perennial species in the vast Salvia genus belong to the mint family. Salvia is a fantastic plant for the rear or middle of flowerbeds because of its tall spikes of tiny, delicate blooms. The mid-summer flowering period of perennial salvia lasts until the end of the season. If kept wet, they will blossom frequently. This clump-forming plant has a height range of 18 to 36 inches, doesn’t need division, and gets bigger over time. It is quite simple to cultivate this plant.

Mexican Sunflower

This stunning flower attracts hummingbirds as well as butterflies. It grows to a height of about 4 feet and has orange-red flowers. The leaves are dark green and resemble the common sunflower but smaller. They grow in thick clumps and provide plenty of nectar for pollinators. This is one of the best flowers that attract hummingbirds, even in cooler climates.

Globe Morning Glory

This is a flowering vine that grows up to 20 feet long. Its flowers are large and purple with a white center. This is another great flower that attracts hummingbirds, especially in the spring. It has dark green leaves that turn red in the fall. The leaves are heart-shaped and measure 8 inches long. Globe Morning Glory is a long-lasting plant and will flower for a long time if you keep cutting it back.

Scarlet Sage

This showy, red flower is native to Texas and has become a favorite garden because it attracts hummingbirds. It’s a perennial flower with a blue-green color and grows about 6 to 18 inches tall. Scarlet Sage prefers full sun but does well in partial shade. It also does well in sandy soil and is drought-tolerant. The leaves are about 2 inches long and grow in a rosette pattern. Leave some of the flowers in your garden year-round, and you’ll see hummingbirds visiting them until the first frost.

Queen’s Trumpet

This plant is an annual that grows up to 5 feet tall. Its pink-purple flowers measure up to 6 inches across. Although it’s an annual, it could last a few years if you leave some flowers in your garden. Queen’s Trumpet prefers a sunny spot but does well in partial shade. It’s a great choice for areas with sandy soil. The leaves are thin and grow in a rosette pattern. They’re about 4 inches long and have a silvery-blue color. Keep the Queen’s Trumpet watered, and you’ll see it grow quickly.

Desert Marigold

This is a flowering shrub that grows up to 3 feet tall. It’s a great choice for growing in sandy soil and does well in most areas of the United States. Desert Marigold grows in a shrub shape and has orange-red flowers. It does best in a full-sun area and requires very little water. It’s a long-lasting plant that produces many flowers. You can leave some flowers in your garden year-round and see hummingbirds visiting them until the first frost. The leaves are thin and grow in a rosette pattern. They have a light green color and measure about 2 inches long.

Mandevilla

The Mandevilla genus’s tropical and subtropical flowering plants are popularly referred to as “rock trumpets”. Mandevilla can be planted in the ground or in containers, the shape and vivid color of the Mandevilla blooms draw hummingbirds to them.

Hummingbirds can readily delve deep into the tube-shaped, trumpet-like blooms of Mandevilla flowers to get the nectar within because of their form. Hummingbirds are drawn to the brilliant colors, particularly on bushes with red blossoms.

Hanging Begonia

This flowering plant grows best in a hanging basket or on a trellis. It can grow up to 3 feet, and its flowers come in various colors. Hanging begonias prefer partial shade but do well in full sun, too. They do well in many soil types but need water. The leaves are thin and grow in a rosette pattern. They’re about 2 inches long and have a silvery-green color. Hanging begonias are easy to grow and are a great choice for a beginner gardener.

Start a Flower Garden for Beginners

How Do You Start a Flower Garden for Beginners?

Are you interested in gardening but aren’t sure where to start? Maybe you have a small space that isn’t the best place for a large vegetable garden, or your yard is mostly lawn with just a few trees and shrubs. A flower garden may be the perfect way to get started with gardening.

An attractive flower garden doesn’t have to take up much space, nor does it need to be something you only tend on special occasions. You can grow beautiful flowers almost anywhere!

This helpful article will explore how to create your flower garden from scratch. You don’t need to be an experienced gardener or have years of horticultural experience to read and follow these helpful tips for starting a flower garden!

What You Will Need to Start Your Flower Garden

A steady source of water

Plants need water to grow, so you’ll want to ensure a steady supply for your garden, whether you have a backyard or a rooftop garden.

Good soil

Your plants will need good soil to provide nutrients and support their roots, so you’ll need to find some soil that is rich in nutrients and will allow your plants to grow. You may consider buying some soil from a gardening supply store or finding a local nursery to sell you some.

Seeds or plants

If you want to grow vegetables or edible flowers, you can start your seeds indoors. If you want to grow flowers, you can find seeds for various plants and flowers (examples: tulips, Daisies, Chrysanthemums, etc.) at a local garden store or online.

A place to grow

You will need to find a place to grow your plants. If you have a backyard, you can garden in the ground. If you don’t, you can grow your plants in containers on a rooftop, balcony, or porch.

How to Prepare the Soil for a Flower Garden

Before you plant anything in your flower garden, you’ll want to be sure that the soil is well-prepared. You can do this in a few different ways, but here are a few tips for how to prepare the soil for a flower garden:

  1. Add in some fertilizer – Any good soil will have some nutrients, but you may want to add some fertilizer, for ornaments, 20-20-20 fertilizer is a good start if you want your flowers to grow quickly and bloom well. You can find fertilizer at a gardening store or make your own by combining compost with fertilizer.
  2. Mix in some compost – You can improve the soil in your flower garden by mixing in some compost. This will help add nutrients and water retention to the soil, making it ideal for growing flowers. You can buy bags of compost at a gardening store or make your own at home.
  3. Start with good soil – If you don’t have good soil, you can’t improve it. It’s best to start with some good soil, to begin with, and you can even mix in some sand to hold it together better. You can also add some peat moss to promote water retention.
  4. Remove any rocks or weeds – If you want to plant in the ground, you’ll want to remove any rocks and weeds from your soil.

Add in Some Maintenance Covers and Shapes

Once you have planted or started your seeds indoors, you can begin to think about maintenance covers, shape, and color. The best maintenance covers to use in your flower garden will depend on what type of flowers you have. Some of the most common maintenance covers include:

Mulch

Mulch can be a great way to cover the soil in your flower garden. It can also keep the soil cooler and prevent weeds from growing. You can make your mulch from old leaves, grass clippings, or sawdust or buy it at a gardening store.

Bushes and shrubs

If you want to add height to your flower garden, a shrub or small bush can be a great choice. They can also help hide an ugly fence or rooftop, and they can be pruned each year to shape them as you see fit.

Add in Some Lightweight Materials

Once your seeds have sprouted and your plants have grown, you can add lightweight materials to your flower garden. This can include wood chips, gravel, or pea gravel, which will help add some color and keep your plants in place. You can add decorative stones, small statues, and other decorative elements to spruce up your flower garden.

Final Words

A flower garden is an amazing way to add color and life to your yard or rooftop. It can be a great project for beginners, and you can do it in almost any climate. With the right seeds, and soil, you can create a garden that is as colorful and beautiful as you could ever imagine! And we can promise that you will love the look and smell of your flower garden as soon as it is finished. With these tips for starting a flower garden, you can ensure that the garden you create is beautiful and long-lasting.