In early spring many area gardeners rush to set out hummingbird feeders filled with a sugary solution to encourage these feathery critters to visit. However, the sugary drink also attracts ants, bees, and wasps. The solution does not furnish vitamins, minerals, and carotenoids that hummingbirds pick up from pollinating flowers and eating insects. In addition, in
garden beds and containers, offer hummers garden spaces to nourish on their favorite pollinator plants.

Favorite Hummingbird Plants:

Perennials:
Anise hyssop (Agastache spp.)
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.)
Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)
Red cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Great blue lobelia (L. siphilitica)
Lupine (Lupinus perennis)
Beebalm (Monarda spp.)
Catmint (Nepeta spp.)
Beardstongue (Penstemon  spp.)
Garden phlox (Phlox paniculata)
Sage (Salvia spp.)

Woody plants:
Mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin)
Trumpetvine (Campsis radicans)
Summersweet shrub (Clethra alnifolia)
Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)
Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)
Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
Azaleas and rhododendrons (Rhododendron spp.)
Weigela (Weigela florida)

Annuals:
Cuphea, cigar plant (Cuphea)
Impatiens
Lantana
Flowering tobacco (Nicotiana)
Salvia (Salvia spp.)
Snapdragons (Antirrhinum)
Zinnia (Zinnia elegans)
Cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit)

Caveat: change the hummingbird feeding solution every 4-7 days during warm spring and summer weather. The sugary feeding solution gradually ferments and clouds up with bacteria which may be fatal to birds.