A feeder is a snack. Flowers are the meal. Plant for a succession of blooms and you get hummingbirds in the yard from the week they arrive until the week they leave, without washing anything.
Hummingbirds favour long tubular flowers and show some preference for red, orange and pink — though any flower with plenty of nectar will pull them in. What matters more than colour is timing: something in bloom at every stage of the season.
Early — for the birds that just arrived
The first males turn up before most gardens have woken up. These are the plants that meet them.
| Plant | Blooms | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) | May | Among the very first blooms available to returning hummingbirds |
| Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis) | May | Reliable early bloomer |
| Hairy Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus) | May | Smaller cousin, same job |
Early summer — the honeysuckles
Native honeysuckles bridge the gap between spring and high summer. Note the word native: the rampant Japanese honeysuckle sold in some garden centres is a different and far less welcome plant.
| Plant | Blooms | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Bush Honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera) | June–July | Shrubby and easygoing |
| American Honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis) | June–July | Native vine honeysuckle |
| Wild Honeysuckle (Lonicera dioica) | June–July | Listed as endangered in Maine — source responsibly |
| Mountain Honeysuckle (Lonicera villosa) | June–July | Northern native |
High summer — the workhorse
| Plant | Blooms | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) | From early July | One of the birds’ favoured forage plants, and a magnet for bees too |
Late summer — fuel for the trip south
This is the group most gardens miss, and it is arguably the most important. Birds feeding in August and September are building reserves for migration.
| Plant | Blooms | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) | Late summer | Moist, shady spots. The red tubular flower is almost a diagram of what hummingbirds want |
| Orange Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) | Later in summer | Moist shade; spreads itself and asks nothing |
| Great Blue Lobelia | Late summer | Companion to cardinal flower |
| Obedient Plant | Late summer | Spreads — give it room or a boundary |
How to actually plant it
- Pick one plant from each of the four groups above. Four plants covering the whole season beats twenty that all bloom in July.
- Plant in clumps, not singles. A hummingbird finds a patch from the air; it does not find one stem.
- Match the spot. Cardinal flower and jewelweed want moist shade; the penstemons and bergamot want sun. Fighting this is the main reason plantings fail.
- Leave the feeder up anyway for the gaps between blooms and for the first arrivals.
A word on the shopping list
Plants native to your region will always beat the general list above, and most states have a native plant society or an Audubon chapter that publishes one. The list here comes from Maine Audubon and applies best to the Northeast and upper Midwest.
Sources
- Maine Audubon — Keep hummingbirds happy with native plants
- National Audubon Society — regional hummingbird guidance
Last reviewed: October 2026.