Entice Fall Hummingbirds to Stop & Stay

July 20, 2016 | By webadmin

Birdwatching: Is there anything more relaxing? Ok, we can think of a few things, but who doesn’t delight at the sight of hummingbirds foraging in their garden? Watching hummingbirds is mesmerizing, relaxing and frankly, more entertaining than TV. But, if you want to attract both migrating and nesting hummingbirds to your garden, you have to be strategic with your plant choices.

A variety of these beautiful winged creatures migrate through North Texas twice a year: once in spring and once in fall. Also, some that migrate through in spring will nest and have babies, which emerge mid-summer. So if you have the right planters and feeders available, you can attract even more hummingbirds to stick around your garden. If you never see hummingbirds in your garden, there here are a few tips to encourage them to visit you.

When choosing hummingbird plants, look for plants with tubular shaped flowers and bright colors. While it’s commonly thought that hummingbirds only favor red or orange colored flowers, that’s not the case. As long as the flower is tubular, hummingbirds will forage on flowers of many colors - even white!

Plant 5 for the Birds

Landscapes filled with a variety of blooming nectar-producing plants are the best way to attract hummingbirds. Choosing annuals and perennials that will bloom at different times in spring, summer and fall will catch a hummingbird’s eye as they are passing through.This is key to attracting and keeping them in your landscape by providing enough of the right kind of food.

Salvia ‘Black & Blue’: The bright cobalt blue flowers provide a highly visible target for hummingbirds. These easy-to-grow salvias tolerate partial shade, so they are perfect for tucking into shadier spaces where other salvias don’t thrive.

Red Yucca: Very drought tolerant, Red Yucca attracts hummingbirds with its tall stalks of red or yellow blooms summer through fall. When not in bloom, it sports evergreen grass-like leaves that work in most any drought tolerant landscape.

Turk’s Cap: One of the most versatile shruby perennials for North Texas landscapes, turk’s cap blooms in both sun or shade, summer through fall. Small, tropical looking flowers bloom in red, white, pink or yellow abd are irresistible to hummingbirds.

Butterfly Bush: Showy flowers bloom in long arches of color from spring through fall. Butterfly Bush comes in a variety of colors from hot pink and purple, to pale lavender and white. There are also a variety of sizes to choose from.

Honeysuckle: Do you have an unsightly fence or wall in your landscape you’d rather not see? Quick growing honeysuckle not only attracts hummingbirds in fall, but it also blooms sweetly scented flowers in spring and mild winters. Available colors include white, yellow and coral.

Don’t stop at these five favorites! There is a huge selection of fall blooming plants that will bring hummingbirds to visit including Flame Acanthus, Cleome, Rock Rose, Autumn Sage, Verbena, Cypress Vine and more.

Feed the Birds

Hummingbirds typically begin to arrive in the Dallas area towards the end of March-beginning of April. Hummingbirds are known to stay in the same vicinity for weeks, or even months, in both spring and fall, until they move on in mid- to late-October. Ensure they continue returning to your landscape by putting your feeders up early enough in spring, and keeping them filled through October. Simply clean and refill two to three times a week to keep fall hummingbirds coming back.