Hummingbirds get energy from nectar and protein from insects (US Fish and Wildlife Service). The US Forest Service says they can eat more than half their body weight in nectar a day, and that they favor long, tubular flowers that need no landing platform. Below: what makes a flower work for hummingbirds, native plants by region with the bloom season each source gives, and the plants the Forest Service pairs with seven US hummingbirds.
Quick read
Shape: long tubes, no landing pad (USFS).
Color: red is favored but not required. Few native red flowers bloom before June, so the Forest Service suggests a range of colors.
Timing: something in bloom from spring through fall, planted in groups rather than single plants (USFWS).
Skip: pesticides, which kill pollinators and can harm hummingbirds (USFS).
What makes a hummingbird flower
| Trait | What the sources say |
|---|---|
| Shape | Long and tubular; hummingbirds hover, so no landing platform is needed (USFS). The California Native Plant Society's Santa Clara Valley chapter says red, tubular flowers suit their long beaks and tongues. |
| Color | Red is favored, but hummingbirds feed on other colors too (USFS). USFWS: "many, but not all" hummingbird flowers are red to orange. Missouri Botanical Garden's Shaw Nature Reserve names red, yellow and orange; UF/IFAS names red, orange and pink. |
| Scent | Usually none, since hummingbirds have a weak sense of smell (USFS) and find nectar by sight (USFWS). |
| Nectar | Plenty of it. The red columbines' nectar has twice the sugar of other native North American columbines and supplies amino acids (USFS Celebrating Wildflowers). |
| Exceptions | Hardy hibiscus is white and not tubular, yet the Shaw Nature Reserve article says hummingbirds visit it often. |
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Photo: Bill Buchanan / USFWS, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Native plants by region
These are examples the cited sources name, not complete lists, with bloom timing only where the source gives it. Check each plant for your county before buying.
| Region (source) | Plants and bloom timing |
|---|---|
| Midwest and East (St. Louis list) Shaw Nature Reserve (Cindy Gilberg, 2009) |
Spring: wild columbine, fire pink, red buckeye, copper iris. Summer: wild bergamot, smooth beardtongue, butterfly milkweed, trumpet creeper, yellow honeysuckle (Lonicera flava), royal catchfly. Fall: cardinal flower, jewelweed, turtlehead |
| Southeast and Florida UF/IFAS |
Coral honeysuckle (spring to summer), red buckeye (spring), scarlet sage (spring, summer and fall), scarlet hibiscus (mid to late summer), firebush (much of the year; zones 9–11), cardinal flower |
| Texas (Houston area) Native Plant Society of Texas, Houston chapter; Texas A&M AgriLife (2011) |
Turk's cap (main bloom in summer; perennial in zones 7–11), standing cypress, scarlet sage, cupleaf penstemon, coral honeysuckle, crossvine, eastern coral bean, Texas lantana |
| Rocky Mountains (CO, UT, WY) Audubon Rockies (2024) |
Late spring to early summer: penstemons, coral bells, columbines. Mid-summer: wild bergamot, red birds in a tree, red yucca. Late summer to early fall: hummingbird trumpet, hyssops, western salvias |
| Desert Southwest (Tucson) Pima County Master Gardeners, Univ. of Arizona (2026) |
Winter: Baja desert thorn (among the earliest), Parry's penstemon (late winter). Spring: coral bean, before its leaves. Summer to frost: Wright's desert honeysuckle, hummingbird trumpet. Nearly year-round: Palmer's Indian mallow. Also chuparosa, ocotillo, desert willow |
| California (Santa Clara Valley) CNPS Santa Clara Valley (2019) |
Manzanita (Jan–Mar), hound's tongue (Mar), red-flowering currant and fuchsia-flowered gooseberry (early spring), scarlet larkspur (May–Jun), heartleaf keckiella (May–Jul), hummingbird monardella (Jun–Oct), California fuchsia (late summer and fall), island snapdragon and island mallow (nearly all year) |
| Pacific Northwest OSU Extension (William Proebsting); Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife |
Indian plum (early spring, timed with the Rufous Hummingbird's return), western bleeding heart (early spring), manzanitas (winter flowers used by Anna's). WDFW also lists red-flowering currant, western trumpet honeysuckle, black twinberry, salmonberry, fireweed, western columbine and penstemon |
Audubon's regional advice is shorter: bee balm and trumpet honeysuckle east of the Rockies, cardinal flower and scarlet sage in the Southeast, hummingbird trumpet, penstemon and columbine in the Mountain West, and paintbrush and orange honeysuckle in the Southwest and on the West Coast (Geoff LeBaron, updated 2026).
- Wild columbine: spring; its bloom is timed with the Ruby-throat's arrival in St. Louis (Shaw Nature Reserve).
- Red buckeye: spring; a tree with red tubular flowers.
- Wild bergamot: summer.
- Trumpet creeper: summer, orange flowers.
- Cardinal flower: fall on the St. Louis list; USFWS lists it as summer.
- Jewelweed: fall on the St. Louis list; USFWS says summer and fall.
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird arrival: mid-to-late April in St. Louis.
- Manzanita: January to March (CNPS Santa Clara Valley).
- Hound's tongue: March.
- Red-flowering currant: early spring.
- Scarlet larkspur: May to June.
- Heartleaf keckiella: May through July.
- Hummingbird monardella: June through October.
- California fuchsia: late summer and fall.
Plants by hummingbird species
The Forest Service guide Attracting Hummingbirds (FS-1046, 2015) pairs each of seven US breeding hummingbirds with two native plants:
| Hummingbird | Where (USFS) | Native plants |
|---|---|---|
| Ruby-throated | The East; the only hummingbird that breeds east of the Mississippi | Trumpet honeysuckle, cardinal flower |
| Black-chinned | Widespread, including urban gardens and canyons | Fireweed, mountain larkspur |
| Anna's | Pacific Coast, expanding north | Manzanita, hummingbird trumpet |
| Costa's | Sonoran and Mojave deserts | Bearded penstemon, ocotillo |
| Calliope | Rockies | Golden currant (among the first Rockies plants to bloom in spring), wild bergamot |
| Broad-tailed | Southern and central Rockies, high meadows | Scarlet gilia, scarlet hedgehog cactus |
| Rufous | Migrates Alaska to Mexico; breeds up to about 6,000 ft | Columbia lily, western columbine |
The same guide notes declines in Rufous, Calliope and Costa's Hummingbirds.
Where the sources disagree
- Native only, or any nectar plant? The Forest Service recommends natives, which need less water once established. The USFWS Hummingbird Haven list gives no native status and mixes in garden plants such as petunia, zinnia, hollyhock and weigela. Audubon's Nectar Sources by Region lists, adapted from Nancy Newfield and Barbara Nielsen's book Hummingbird Gardens, "include native plants and cultivars"; the East and Midwest list includes bottlebrush and eucalyptus.
- How local is native? Audubon's Hummingbirds at Home program (4,801 surveys at 744 US locations, 2013–2018) concluded a plant does not need to be native to your ZIP code to help; native to a migrating hummingbird's broader range also counts. It names cardinal flower, trumpet honeysuckle, lupines and milkweeds as natives that thrive in several regions.
- Is red required? None of the sources here says so. The Forest Service and USFWS both say red is common, not universal.
- Bloom dates. Cardinal flower is "summer" on the USFWS list and "fall" on the St. Louis list. Treat any bloom date as local.
Planting checklist
- Something in bloom in spring, summer and fall (USFWS); in the low desert, winter bloomers too (Pima County list)
- Each plant in a group or mass, since hummingbirds prefer concentrated food (Shaw Nature Reserve, USFWS)
- No pesticides or insecticides (USFS, Shaw Nature Reserve)
- Some leaf litter left; no weed cloth or heavy mulch, where insects nest (USFS)
- Dead branches and treetops for perches, tall shrubs and trees for nests (USFS); roughly half open area, half trees and shrubs (Shaw Nature Reserve)
- Very shallow water or a fine mist (USFWS); see the bird bath guide
- Red buckeye (all parts) and coral bean (seeds) kept away from children and pets: UF/IFAS calls them toxic and poisonous
- Your county extension office or a native plant nursery for local choices (UF/IFAS)
- Cats kept indoors (USFS, USFWS)
Flowers and feeders work together: see the hummingbird feeder guide for the 1:4 nectar recipe, when to put out feeders for arrival dates, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird profile, and native plants for birds for berry and seed plants.
Sources
- Attracting Hummingbirds (FS-1046) — USDA Forest Service (Susan Reel, 2015, PDF)
- Red Columbines — USDA Forest Service, Celebrating Wildflowers
- Hummingbird Haven: Backyard Habitat for Wildlife — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (PDF)
- Nectar Sources by Region — National Audubon Society (2024)
- Nectar Sources by Region for the East & Midwest — National Audubon Society
- Hummingbirds Are Home When We Plant Native Plants — Audubon (Dominic Arenas, 2020)
- When to Expect Hummingbirds at Your Feeders and Flowers This Spring — Audubon (Geoff LeBaron, updated 2026)
- Nine Native Plants to Attract Hummingbirds in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming — Audubon Rockies (Ann Kendall, 2024)
- Native Gardening for Hummingbirds — Shaw Nature Reserve, Missouri Botanical Garden (Cindy Gilberg, 2009, PDF)
- Hummingbird Gardens — UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions
- Native Plants That Provide a Food Source for Hummingbirds — Native Plant Society of Texas, Houston Chapter (PDF)
- Turk's Cap Named New Texas Superstar — Texas A&M AgriLife Today (2011)
- Native Plants of the Tucson Area — Pima County Master Gardeners, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension (2026, PDF)
- California Native Hummingbird Plants — California Native Plant Society, Santa Clara Valley Chapter (Ellie Gioumousis, 2019)
- Tips on Gardening for Hummingbirds — Oregon State University Extension (William Proebsting, PDF)
- Pacific Northwest trees, shrubs and perennials and the birds that use them — Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (PDF)
- File:Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Cardinal Flower (5278271834).jpg — Wikimedia Commons (photo source)
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