There are many that are good for hummers most of them are from South America or the southwestern US.

Here is just a few:
Salvia guaranitica 'Black & Blue'
Salvia guaranitica the species
Salvia guaranitica 'Argentina Skies'
Salvia guaranitica 'Omaha Gold'
Salvia guaranitica 'Purple Majesty'
Salvia leucantha
Salvia elegans (Pineapple sage)
Salvia Patens
Salvia Azurea
Salvia greggii and all its cultivars
Salvia coccinea and its cultivars such as lady in red and coral nymph
Salvia microphylla and its cultivars
Salvia Blepharophylla
Salvia x jamensis 'Sierra San Antonio'
Salvia x jamensis 'Teresa'

Black and Blue was the most attractive plant I had last year. This year I have a wider variety, it will be interesting to see if B&B remains the most popular.

Same here Harry. I hope the plants that you got from Rich are doing well. I had to repot my Raspberry Truffle salvias as it has been so cold and rainy here. Hoping to get them in the ground by Wednesday of this week. My B&B that I got from Rich is already planted out. I was able to get it in the ground before the rain started and it is doing great along with my own B&B. That is one salvia I never want to be without. I am trying Purple Majesty this year also. I hope it will bloom early enough. It is still in a pot also and already two fit tall and about 18 inches wide. Another one I am trying for the first time is Salvia guaranitica Van Remsen. It is supposed to be similar to B&B but doesn't form rhizomes.

Penny

thanks i will be going to walmart and see what thay have and some other places

how do you tell the splenders from the others

I have emailed you directly sarah

The Black and Blue I received from Rich is already showing color in its buds. I am expecting it to bloom for the holiday weekend. One of the other salvias he sent has already bloomed.

I have witnessed 3 hummer visits which lasted a minute or less. With all the prime nectar plants I have in bloom, it seems such a waste that there is no action. I have taken to consuming the honeysuckle nectar myself.

WOW licky you harry. None of my plants are in bloom yet but then again it has been so darn cold here that i am surprised anything is still alive. My hummers have been using the feeders almost exclusively and I think it is because they are able to get more from the feeders right now than they can get from the flowers without expending a lot of energy. Once it warms up and they don't have to use all their energy to find food sources you will find that they will use the flowers more.

Penny

It is supposed to warm up over the next few days and reach the low 80's for the weekend. This has been a cool May, but these warm days will pop all the buds. Fortunately, the Gold Flame Honeysuckle has hundreds of blooms. Sooner or later one of these hummers who visit daily will decide to settle down here.

harry
For the first time today I saw the hummers in my yard actually visit the flowers that are blooming (spring native perennials) Now that it is starting to warm up I think they will be more apt to check out the flowers. As cold as it has been here in the northeast, they have been able to get more nectar using less energy by using the feeders.

Penny

That's interesting, Penny, what you're saying about the feeders saving energy during cold snaps. It certainly makes sense, and I think I'm observing the same thing.

My columbines are in full bloom, but I haven't noticed any hummers at them. As far as I can see, my lone female (I assume it's the same bird) is visiting the feeder exclusively. I upped the strength to 3:1 water to sugar, so that's probably making it even more attractive. Perhaps if I lowered the ratio back to 4:1, now that the temperatures are warming up, she'll start visiting the flowers, as nature intended.

I sampled one of the columbines for nectar, and it's quite plentiful and sweet. Same goes for the Salvia coccinea, which is enjoying the warmup.

We have a huge population that has been summering with us for more than 20 years. For us, S. splendens 'Van Houttei--red' was the biggest attractant last year. This year, I'm trying additional colors of 'Van Houttei' I found--plum and peach. The hummers also seem to really like Pachystachys lutea. Of course, at their height, they go through a half gallon of feeder nectar a day too. It's all I can do to keep the feeders filled around the first week in July.

Mark

-Indigo Spires
-Mystic Spires
-Leucantha
-Chiapensis and
-Waverly

are their favorites in my yard!

~Susan

Another salvia that wasnt mentioned in particular which is similar to the black and blue only it gets at least a foot taller than b & b . It is called salvia guaranitica blue ensign. Here a pic of one from last year. You would need to get it at "world of salvias'

thats it in front you can see the smaller b & b in the background