The best way to encourage hummingbirds to visit your yard is to improve the overall habitat, by planting a variety of shrubs and trees. The perfect blooms are long and tubular.
Here are a few of our flowering Northwest native favorites:
- Indian Plum (Oemleria cerasiformis)
- Red Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum)
- Black Twinberry (Lonicer involucrata)
- Oregon Grape (Mahonia)
- Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)
- Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa)
- Camas (Camassia)
- Penstemon (Penstemon)
- Pacific Crabapple (Malus fusca)
Some of these plants produce berries which are eaten by songbirds and have twigs that are used for nest building.
Remember that hummingbirds often like to nest in evergreens, such as fir, cedar and spruce. They also shelter in these trees during stormy weather.
Beware of showy named varieties of "hummingbird plants", which look great, but don't contain much nectar. There are lots of native and ornamental plants that hummingbirds really do like, so feel free to write, call or stop by to find out more.