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Cool-season nectar plants for Hummers

peachymomo
9 years ago

Since installing my new flower garden I have had a hummingbird take up residence in one of my trees, in the spring he was mostly brown but now he is iridescent green with a red gorget so I'm pretty sure he's a young male and this is his first home. Things are winding down for the cool season, right now I think the nasturtiums are his main nectar source and once we get frost they will be gone. So I want to get some winter blooming nectar plants for him and I was hoping for some suggestions.

This is what I have so far: Snapdragons, lobelias, abelia, flowering quince, narcissus.

What can I add to provide plenty of nectar through the cool months?

Thanks in advance!

Comments (10)

  • Min3 South S.F. Bay CA
    9 years ago

    Not sure where you are but some grevilleas bloom intermittently throughout the winter for my hummers: noelli, wooly. Min

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    9 years ago

    Grevilleas are a great choice. I grow one for my hummers as well :-)

    Others that will produce flowers late into the year are various salvias (my microphylla blooms until well past the first frost), hardy fuchsias (tend to have a long and very late bloom season), abutilon, any kind of citrus. If it grows for you, winter blooming mahonia, Lonicera fragrantissima, sarcococca, skimmia, witch hazels.

    And I remember a New Year's eve visit to the Huntington Botanical Garden's succulent and cactus collection that was an absolute traffic jam of hummingbirds feasting on the winter flowering agaves and aloes, etc.

  • hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
    9 years ago

    Aloes, but 8 might be too cold for them. 20F is about it. Salvia discolor blooms 12 months a year here and the hummers have them permanently staked out. What Sunset are you in, it's only hardy to 14. Grevillea 'Moonlight' blooms 12 months a year here also. They do love Abelia flowers.

  • gobluedjm 9/18 CA
    9 years ago

    Cape Honeysuckle blooms in winter, very aggressive and fast grower. Needs pruning twice a year to keep to size. I keep mine 4x4 by pruning twice a year and that's cutting it back 3 feet.

  • peachymomo
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks everyone! I found a source for grevillea near me, they are at a nursery where I always admire the abutilon so I'll pick up at least one of those too. I'm always up for adding more salvia, and I've been wanting to get a Meyer Lemon for a while now so onto the list they go!

    I am in Sunset zone 14, but we get occasional arctic incursions that freeze the more tender plants. I love aloe flowers but we usually get into the teens a couple of times every winter, my neighbor has a hardy banana at it gets frozen to the ground at least once a year. Honeysuckle is another favorite of mine but I already planted a couple of Lonicera ciliosa on the back fence, which is the only place I think is suitable for them in my yard.

  • princesspea
    9 years ago

    Hummingbirds frequent the wallflowers and rosemary in the planting strip in front of our office. They nest in the eucalyptus and also go to the wildflowers in the next door vacant lot.
    Pea

  • jakkom
    9 years ago

    Try red or pink cestrum - not the yellow, it's a monster - they are 10' shrubs, multi-branched, arching branches. Supposedly hardy to zone 8a USDA, if that works for you.

    It is Cestrum elegans var. smithii - Pink Cestrum. Mine is in bloom all year-round although I'm in zone 17 so more temperate. The hummers ADORE this plant. Between this and the Meyer lemon opposite the Rufous hummers have lived happily in our garden for the past 12 yrs.

  • calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
    9 years ago

    If you have room for the Cestrum elegans, you and your birds will love it. Here it has tolerated freezing that freezes my water tank solid. I have never seen it without flowers and berries. Al

  • toyon
    9 years ago

    Pineapple sage, many cupheas will bloom all winter, native currants/gooseberries, cool season peas, citrus, arbutos unedo. I've also seen monkeyflowers (Diplacus aurantiacus) blooming from about February on in warm sunny exposures.

  • elvie z9CA
    9 years ago

    Common Bottlebrush; Callistemon citrinus is the most popular with hummers, in winter in my garden.