It sounds like you have a great start! These 3 are low maintenance hummer magnets:

Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal flower)
'Lady in Red' salvia
"Black & Blue' salvia

I have seeds of the first 2 if you need 'em.

I have never seen a hummingbird in my town on Long Island, but my friend saw them last week for a few days -- all over her red cannas.

I've heard they LOVE the red species type cannas. I'm definitely planting these next year! Also, they are supposed to love columbine, cross vine, hummingbird vine,
that's all I an think of right now. I am planting red cannas all over my front and back yards next year!!! I am desperate to see these little critters at my garden.

Is it cannas or callas that get really aggressive?...I can't remember. But you may want to research that before planting. Cross vine can be aggressive too, so be cautious. Try a native honeysuckle or scarlet runner bean for better behaved vines that hummers love.

ctnchpr,
Would it be possiable that you still have some of the seeds to share with someone else? The only thing I have that I have saved right now would be coneflower or columbine seeds.
Elaine

Hummer slove butterfly bushes, any red flowers, especially zinnias, bee balm,etc.

Elaine,

You have e-mail.

Medo,

This year there were three plants in particular that hummingbirds lingered at. Those were the following:

1. 'ROYAL RED' BUTTERFLY BUSH: Just planted a few months before. About $7 from Lowes...impulse buy. The hummingbird really seemed to like this plant. She hung around for quite a while. It'll get about 8' tall, 6' wide. Large for my small yard, but it already seems worth the space. Butterflies were flocking to it too.

2. RED IMPATIENS: I had two 6"x2' containers with solid pink and solid red. These are great for areas with shade. Mine only got an hour or two of sun and thrived. Despite me sitting right by the container, the hummingbird hovered so close I could hear it's wings. Also from Lowes. Two six packs for less than $2 each. I took cuttings (my first attempt at that), and I'm overwintering them in the kitchen. They only got around 6" tall and wide, but I really packed them into the container. About 5 in each. They didn't seem to mind at all.

3. 'WILL ROGERS' ZINNIA: A pack of free seeds I received from JungSeed with a purchase. I'm sure any red zinnia would help beacon them in though. Mine got about 4' tall and 12-18" wide. Again, butterflies would be an added bonus.

Next season I am adding more plants specifically for hummingbirds too. For sunny areas, SALVIAS are great. I've had success with 'Flare', 'Lady in Red', and 'Coral Nymph'. I'll be planting more of those. AGASTACHES with tubular flowers are attractive to them. Two beautiful ones I've been wanting to get are 'Acapulco Orange' and 'Orange Flare'. I'm sure they would work beautifully. A CORAL OR TRUMPET HONEYSUCKLE would be a treat for them. Just don't get the invasive Japanese kind. Finally, red or blue MORNING GLORIES, red BEE BALM, SCARLET RUNNER BEAN VINE, and any red, tubular plants will most likely be a hit.

For shady areas, in addition to impatiens, try HOSTA and HEUCHERA. They both produce tubular flowers that hummingbirds will enjoy. In particular, try to select heuchera with red flowers. 'Hollywood' and 'Paris' come to mind. I know there are others to choose from.

Finally, plant in clusters, not individual plants. Rather than one zinnia here and one salvia there, try three zinnia here and three salvia there. That will attract their attention much more strongly.

Kim

A great book on gardening for hummingbirds is "Attracting Butterflies & Hummingbirds to Your Backyard: Watch Your Garden Come Alive With Beauty on the Wing " by Sally Roth. I just bought a copy online, and it's really good. Lots of great tips, plant suggestions, and pictures. I've attached a link below where you can "look inside" the book.

Another great source of information is on the website for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.

http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/news/Other-Services/Wildlife-Diversity/Attracting-Hummingbirds-and-Butterflies

It'll give you some suggestions for plants that should do well where you live. I hope these help.

Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: Great hummingbird/butterfly book

You can also try a passion vine,does well in shade

Yes, sounds like you have some good ones. I too had a post on the seed exchange and no replies for what I want. I became sick for a couple of months during the time I should of collected the seeds from the black and blue and thus didnt get any. Last year I wintersowed some outside and had good luck with that.

I don't as yet have any hummingbird feeders, but plant lots of flowers for the hummers. The top hummingbird plants in my gardens -

Monarda didyma - the red Bee Balm, however I watched the hummers feed on other species of Monarda too

Lobelia cardinalis - they go NUTS over this. I regularly watched 2 hummers fight over this plant, one time a 3rd hummer zoomed in to intervene.

Yvonne's Salvia and Salvia 'Coral Nymph' - regular visits to both of these, although they LOVED the Yvonne's Salvia. Watched the 2 hummers fight over this too.

Ipomoea x sloteri Cardinal climber - Had this growing on a 15 foot teepee trellis, hummers visited regularly

Physostegia virginiana - Obedient plant

Zinnias - Cut & Come again, California Giants

And occasionally, Buddleia, Cleome, Dicentra, Hostas, Columbine, Penstemon

This year I am sowing additional Hummingbird plants, including Lobelia siphilitica, Ipomopsis rubra, more Penstemon. (probably others I can't think of at the moment)

The more plants you have out the more hummers you can attract. Especially later in the season I could find them on any and every plant I have out: from the guaranitica black and blue/green and blue to coccinia, lady in red, coral nymph or sages to subrotunda to cupheas to Yvonnes sal. all the greggii variety, coral honeysuckle and others . Late in the season they seem to go into a feeding frenzy just before they head south.

WOW thank you all so much!! this year, i'm starting all over, and putting in one whole garden just for them and the butterflies. i will have at two of the ends the cypres vines and the cardinal vines intermingaled. i know that they love them!! and then i will let the other plants i there. i know that i have a few yvonne salvia's here, and i will plant 1 in in a corner. or maybe in the middle since it gets so big :') then the other salvia's around in the corners. then fill in the others in between with the rest :') ~Medo

Here is a link that might be useful: Barehanded Totally Nutso Gardener!! **Big Grinn**

Oh thought of a couple others that I have observed the Hummers nectar on, Digitalis (Foxglove) and Heuchera.

And I agree with Hummersteve, each year I've added more plants and each year there are more visits from the Hummingbirds. This past Spring I planted 6-7 Hummingbird plants in one particular garden bed/area. The flowers ended up blooming successively, July through September. This made it very easy to observe them. I would sit on a log near the garden and wait for a Hummer or 2 to show up, and usually didn't have to wait long. Very enjoyable!

I believe a garden should have a couple of heavy duty nectar producers in large numbers, the larger the better. Any of the Salvia coccinea cultivars will do or Salvia subrotunda. There is a garden, a very dry sandy garden, where we've done it with Salvia greggii and microphylla. You can't have too many of your primary plants. Hummingbirds and butterflies respond very favorably to huge abundance. So do we, think of Thanksgiving.

Does anyone know if the Passion Vine and the Cardinal Vine will grow in Zone 8? I think they are beautiful and I am new to this. Any help? Please send me an email!! Thanks!!

Will passion vine and cardinal vine grow in Zone 8? If you look away, they'll grow up your leg. Both can be aggressive and re-seed something fierce, so choose your variety well. Passion vine or maypop is not particularly attractive to hummers, but cardinal vine is a true favorite. Both of these vines are easy to grow too. Good luck and have fun!...it's a slippery and addictive slope! =)

i've been growing the maypop and cardinal and cypress vine, and they love thm, somehow this year i'm going to get them to grow up a trellis! LOL that way they can reseed all they want!! LOL and i can just add more and more things they like to that trellis, well in my case its a cattle panel.

Here is a link that might be useful: barehanded totally nutso gardener