What are your top ten butterfly/hummingbird attracting plts?

I need some suggestions for plants to attract butterflies or hummingbirds. Many thanks!

Perennial sage is my favorite - it comes in many varieties & colors - reds, pinks, & oranges, & variations thereof, as well as the salvias (I think they are ALL related) - in blues. I have about 6 different types, but the hummies love them all! They begin blooming here (South Ga., zone 8b) in April, & don't stop until a hard freeze - sometimes December! The hummies also love my butterfly bush ( I have white), & even my agapanthus! Lobelia is a winner, too. Good luck - you may end up with hummers all year round! Samantha

Amy, since you're even further south than me, I know you need plants that can take the heat! Pentas are good and any variety of sage. Native porterweed is very popular with my butterflies and hummingbirds (they actually fight over it)! Swallowtails love the blue plumbagos and it's also a host for the Cassius Blue. Bougainvillea also brings in a lot of butterflies; firebush is a good native that is irresistible for Zebra Longwings in particular. Firebush also has those tubular, reddish orange flowers hummingbirds seem to like. Blanket flowers are native, take the heat, and attract lots of smaller or medium sized butterflies. I've had the best results with the "Goblin" variety http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31614/. If you have a wetter area, buttonbush is a good choice for both hummies and butterflies.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. You'll have to share some pictures of all the beauties you attract to your garden. I'm just a little far north to get the Atala, Malachite, or Julia. I really need to head south one day to check out the butterflies. Which reminds me, the Atala are still endangered so if you want to plant some coontie (which was also once endangered) you could host their caterpillars which would be wonderful. Plus, coontie stands up to the heat and drought so well. Passion vine will host the Julias, Gulf Fritillaries, and the Zebra Longwing; just make sure you choose a native variety or one that is blue to purple as some of the newer hybrids will kill the caterpillars.

Melanie

I'm in Rosenberg, Texas and will be planting for butterflies and hummers, any one have suggestions for me?

Plant Scabiosa columbaria (sp?). It is also known as the Blue Butterfly Pincushion Flower. It is excellent at attracting butterflies. All the agastaches will attract the hummingbirds (at least the ones I plant). I plant Hummingbird Mint 'Desert Sunrise' which not only attracts hummingbirds but they smell good when flowering also. I also plant Korean Hyssop (another agastache). I will tell you the results of that next year. If you are trying to attract all butterflies including the small ones, try Golden Lantana. It really attracts the little ones.

Good Luck!!

Take care,

Chuck

I'll second both the agastache and the scabiosa. When I was on vacation in WV the local Lowe's was selling both and they were covered in skippers and bees. I bought some of the "Black Adder" Hummingbird Mint (agastache) and it is very popular.

Lantana is always attractive, but it can be invasive. Try to stick with the hybrids since most of those have been bred not to grow crazy everywhere.

I swear by Cone Flowers, there is always activity around them. If I could pick one flower this would be it.

Salvias, Red Yucca, Mexican Firebush, milkweed, passionflower vines, Hop Tree, Black Cherry, fennel, parsley, Spicebush, White Mistflower, Gregg's Mistflower, etc.

Oh yeah, echinacea is good. I have trouble growing it this far south, but if you're in the zone, it's a great one.

What is the genus for coneflowers? Thanks for all your suggestions!

It's Echinacea genus.

Spigelia marilandica, Indian Pink, is a great hummer plant for a shady spot under trees. It is pollenated by hummingbirds.

Up here, the winners in attracting the butterflies for me are definitely lantana and the goblin gaillardia. They also seem to like the gaura lindheimeri 'siskiyou pink' a good deal.

Any time of day or night, we've got a good group of butterflies hovering - and plenty of bumblebees, too.

Porterweed is a fave here!

I've noticed lots of hummingbird visits on my red cannas this summer. Also Trumpet Vine (although that can get pretty invasive).

Thanks so much for all your suggestions. I can see that I need to start carrying a note book. Perhaps it was a fluke, but I thought I had a hummer in a tree a few days ago, and I thought I got buzzed by one,(I have red hair and its happened before) so I set out my feeders and so far no takers. Its it really too soon? Two years ago we had a swarm of them and they were such a delight.

One of our local naturalists saw a hummingbird yesterday....in a location 30 miles south of Miami! Many years I have seen them by the 3rd week in August.

I hadn't seen hummingbirds in a few months, but then I started seeing them again toward the end of July when I returned from vacation. I saw a pair way up in my willow oak. They seem to come down when my bird feeder is empty. I think having the other birds around drives them away.

As for plants, having a host plant definitely ups the number of butterflies. I cut back my passionflower to have the house painted and it died. I'm hardly seeing any gulf fritillaries now. Add a pipevine and you'll definitely have polydamas and pipevine swallowtails. I second the porter's weed and penta recommendations too. My favorite for winter hummers are flowering maples.

Thanks for starting this thread. I was interested in what I should add too!

l seem to have a pair (and offspring) that pretty much stays around until time to migrate again, so I guess I'm lucky. I put up a feeder for the first time over the weekend...had only had hummer plants before that. But I wanted to get pics before they left, so I'm hoping the feeder will help. So far, activity at the feeder has been slow and I haven't had any photo opportunities yet. Hopefully the migrating hummers will come through and there will be more.

Linda, I think you're right that they are supposed to hang around. My other theory was that they were feeding in the trees in the summer which is why I didn't see them as much.

I just saw my hummer and the bird feeder is full, so maybe I'm completely wrong on that one. However, almost everytime I've seen a hummer this last month including just now, it's been feeding from the flowers of my dwarf pink banana tree. I guess bananas should be added to the list!

No one has mentioned Milkweed for the QUeen and Monarchs (I don;t get Viceroys around here) Nor did I see Dutchmans Pipevine. I did see mentioned Passionvine (I grow at least 8 varieties for my Frittilaries). Go to Home Depot and pick one that is blooming. If it is red, just make sure the leaves are jagged like pinking shears. If red is not jagged, don;t buy it, it is toxic to the cats.

Chris
Port St Lucie

It's time for the winter migration of the Monarch's and the hummers come thru at this time also. In the fall they hang around longer getting fat for the long journey to distant lands. Also, this is the time of year when we are more apt to see different type of hummers than we see in the spring. Just depends what is tagging along w/what. When we were in Victoria we had swarms of hummers. So, get out those feeders, put a drop of red food coloring in there (not for the hummers but for you so that you can readily see if the water level has fallen) which won't hurt the birds at all, and before long you'll have them calling at your door if you have the feeders in an open place w/a tree or clothes line really near by and a water feature of some sort.

Ann

Sorry - I could've missed this suggestion. Last year I added crocosmia (red) and they loved them.... almost as much as the salvia & trumpet vine.

I have a male and female pair of rubythroats that have taken over my back yard. They adore bee balm (monarda) and cannas. They're starting to check out my hyacinth beans and my Arabian jasmine. They love the neighbor's hanging fuschia. They're fond of honeysuckles (I have lonicera var. Alabama Crimson). I also have a deep rich purple buddleia they seem to like, as well as day lilies I have seen them visit.

I want to add agastaches next year, and maybe a baptisia or two.

-Joe

Focus isn't real good, but here's a visitor to my hummer feeder! I don't know if the Preying Mantis was going for the liquid or waiting for prey. I wonder if they're a danger to hummers.

I was going to say that mantids aren't a danger to North American hummers. I would have been wrong. Don't follow this link if you have a weak stomach: http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/backyardbirds/hummingbirds/mantis-hummer.aspx . In short, yes, mantids are a danger to hummers.

I would move your insect friend to another location somewhere else in the yard.

-Joe

Lordy! I'll keep an eye out for that one! I have the feeder near a window, so I look at it fairly often. Thanks for the warning...if that thing comes back, it won't be living in my yard any more. I only asked because I've watched the mantids hanging out by the outside lights and they can really catch a wide variety of insects at night. They're really quite good at their role as predator.

This message was edited Aug 7, 2008 10:19 PM

jeesh what a sight!

holy cow, that is amazing... never would of thought that.

Don't forget zinnias and orange cosmos for the butterflies. And hummingbirds flock to my hollyhocks.

Amygirl,

We also have tried planting for hummers after we moved to FL from CA, where we had a lot of them around. The Hamelia Patens (Firebush) and Passiflora "Blue Bouquet" are real butterfly favorites and it seems that at least the
Firebush is also drawing the hummers. But I was really surprised to find they were mostly hanging out around the yellow shrimp plants (Pachystachys lutea). They also went for the Justicia Carnea in the spring, but my plants haven't done well in summer. And they all seem to like the Mexican Torch sunflowers, which grow so easily from seed.

Dan

wow - those are sure pretty, I'll try those. Thanks for sharing the pic!

Forgive me if I just missed it, but we should also include cassia or senna for yellow sulfers. Some cassias are better than others. I don't know which ones are great. Someone else will have to chime in on that one.

Dan, your Mexican torch sunflower looks like a plant I used to have that was sold as a cassia but I was later told that it wasn't one. It was never as pretty as yours though if that's what it was. Finally kicked the bucket this year. Must not have been getting watered.

Elphaba,

Sorry for the confusion. That was a picture of the shrimp plant, with a blue duranta in the background. Here is a BST on the sunflower.

I agree that we shouldn't forget the Cassia. I have one that suffered from the frost this year but is getting full again. We always have sulphers flitting through the yard.

Dan

Dan, thanks for straightening me out! I have lemon sorbet shrimp plants that I love but they are cascading and not at all upright like yours. Very nice! Lovely pic too!

wow, another fantastic photo !

Well, as a fan of native plants, I have to share the list on this link:

http://www.rubythroat.org/PlantsNativeTopTen.html

#1: Trumpet Creeper, Campsis radicans
#2: Beebalm or Oswego Tea, Monarda didyma
#3: Trumpet Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens
#4: Cardinal Flower, Lobelia cardinalis
#5: Spotted Jewelweed, Impatiens capensis
#6: Red Columbine, Aquilegia canadense
#7: Canada Lily, Lilium canadense
#8: Indian Pink, Spigelia marilandica
#9: Red Buckeye, Aesculus pavia
#10: Mountain Rosebay or Catawba Rhododendron, Rhododendron catawbiense

And I also want to mention that I've often been told that the Aesculus (Buckeyes) are good for bluebirds--not because they attract bluebirds (they don't), but because they attract a lot of insects which are eaten by bluebirds.

Teresa

That' good to know. I have bluebirds and 4 small Red Buckeye trees.