To make your yard attract hummingbirds, what you need to do is to plant what they find attractive. Plants that attract hummingbirds in Florida are what you need if you reside in Florida and this article will be shedding more light on that.
As a person that resides in Florida and a hummingbird lover, it is important for you to plant flowers and shrubs that attract hummingbirds. This will further make your garden more colorful and beautiful to attract hummingbirds to your garden.
Plant red, orange, blue, and yellow flowers as they are colors hummingbirds find attractive. Add the colors in a way that allows all of them to blend in well in your garden.
So let’s go further to know about plants that attract hummingbirds in Florida.
Attracting Hummingbirds In Florida
In Florida, 10 species out of the 16 species of hummingbirds known to be in the United States have been found. The one mostly seen here is the red-throated hummers.
When creating your garden, also endeavor to put into consideration the type of atmosphere and environment that will be conducive for the birds.
The name “hummingbird” was gotten from the kind of sound made by the bird’s wings, thereby calling them “song bird”. The hummingbirds are also known for their acrobatic moves by flying high and dipping low at a very fast pace. All these are the reason why hummingbirds are high energy-consuming creatures.
They need to consume so much high-energy giving nectar. Hence they may not always get enough of the nectar they need from flowers. That is why you should consider planting more nectar-producing flowering plants that are attractive to hummingbirds in your garden.
This will attract them and make them establish their territory in your garden.
Apart from planting flowers, incorporate hummingbird feeders into the design of your garden. This will make the availability of nectar surplus to the birds. Also, it would make them stay in your garden for a long.
So, the idea is to actually draw their attention to your garden first with the nectar-producing flowers. This is why you should do more things to increase the chances of them visiting your garden
Plants That Attract Hummingbirds In Florida
When it comes to plants that attract hummingbirds in Florida, we recommend you preferably choose plants that are native. This way, hummingbirds should be more familiar with the plants. Also, the plants can have a better chance of thriving even with minimal care.
Again, we recommend you go for plants with a long bloom duration or repeated bloom. This way, you can easily provide hummingbirds with a reliable food source for a good period of time.
There are a couple of tubular and flowering vines that grow in the whole of Florida. The colors of the tubular flowers that grow on most of these vines are orange/reddish. These flowering vines are plants that do very well to attract hummingbirds in Florida.
They either grow clumped together or as single flowers. Cross Vine is a type of flowering vine that can also be found in Florida to attract hummingbirds.
So, here are the following are the plants you can attract hummingbirds within Florida;
1. Butterfly bush
Butterfly bush is a deciduous flowering shrub that is great for attracting hummingbirds in Florida. It features thick elongated clusters of flowers that will bloom repeatedly from mid-summer through fall.
2. Pagoda flower
Pagoda flower is also a plant native to Florida that can easily attract hummingbirds. They are climbing plants that can go as high as 3 to 5 feet in a year.
3. Trumpet creeper
Trumpet creeper is a type of vining flower that can rapidly grow and overtake even a small area in your garden. it can even climb on different surfaces like trees, fences, arbors, etc. just make sure you trim them frequently so it does not overwhelm your garden space.
4. Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle is also a vining plant just like trumpet creeper. It is also a great plant to grow to attract hummingbirds in Florida.
5. Blue saga
This is an herbaceous perennial plant and is also one of the hummingbirds’ favorite plants.
6. Florida Azalea
Florida Azalea is another attractive flower native to Florida. So you can add this flower to the list of plants that can attract hummingbirds to your garden.
7. Firespike
Firespike is a type of flower that produces clusters of tubular red flowers. In South Florida, it is a small shrub. Then in North and Central Florida, it is a clumping, herbaceous perennial plant.
- Other types of Florida native plants to attract hummingbird includes Rose Mallow, Butterfly Milkweed, Swamp Milkweed, Firecracker Plant, and so on.
Further Creating A Hummingbird Friendly Environment
Having a garden with hummingbirds whizzing and hovering in it is a beautiful and fascinating view and atmosphere for enthusiasts.
To further create a hummingbird-friendly environment, what you should do is plant a lot of flowers hummingbirds find attractive. In addition to that, make provision for a type of environment that has shelter, food, shade, water, and security, available for them.
- A conducive environment for hummingbirds can be put together, by using flowering shrubs, flowering vines, herbs, and dwarf trees.
- Let there be enough space between plants. This will enable hummingbirds to easily hover from one flower to the other.
- Hummingbirds can’t smell but they can find their food by relying on bright colors. Hence, apart from planting nectar-producing flowering plants in your garden, you can tie or decorate your garden with radiant colors like red.
- Incorporate hummingbird feeders that have red designs on them, into your garden. The red color, in particular, is an attractive color to the birds. Hummingbirds have been observed taking a critical closer look at feeders that carry red designs, red plant labels, red thermometers, and surprisingly human red clothing, on gardeners especially. For any reason, do not add red dye to hummingbird food. It’s toxic to the birds. You can make a nectar solution by mixing one part sugar with four parts water.
- You can as well add a birdbath to the fly-fit hummingbirds, as they love water too. Use a sprinkler hose for gentle but continuous dispensing of water.
- Hummingbirds are drawn to flowers that are long and tubular in shape. This is because they hold a high quantity of nectar and hummingbirds’ slender bills can easily fit into them.
Conclusion
Conclusively, knowing the right plants that attract hummingbirds in Florida will help in knowing the varieties of plants one can add to his or her landscape. Thereby, this can help create a hummingbird-friendly environment for the birds and a fascinating view for you and your visitors.
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