Most hybrids and cultivars lose a percentage of nectar with each breeding. That is why it is recommended to get the species whenever possible.

Even wild petunias are low on the nectar scale.

Penny

I remembered seeing this post and had to go searching for it today. Can you please explain further? How do we tell? I've never looked for or seen nectar, and I'm not anxious to be tasting flowers in public. My family thinks I'm weird enough already. Thanks, Sandy

Well, if you're worried about looking weird, Sandy, you might as well stop right here. I've been different my whole life, in a good way, I think, so I try not to let anyone make me feel bad for engaging in unusual behavior. If I worried about what people thought, I probably wouldn't do half the fun things I do! I swear, any more, people are getting more and more conventional, but that sure doesn't seem like much fun to me.

The sorts of flowers that are attractive to hummingbirds usually are described as tubular, the petals flaring out from a long, gradually expanding conical base. From my explorations, the nectar is found deep down in the base of that tube. The way I usually test a flower for nectar is to pluck the entire flower off, including the little green sepals at the base. Carefully, I grab one of the petals, and tear the flower all the way down to the base. This is sometimes difficult to do, especially with very small flowers and big, clumsy fingers. I suppose a very sharp knife or X-Acto blade might help if fingers can't manage it. If the flower has nectar in it, you will see it as a glistening liquid filling the base of the tube. If you touch your tongue to it, even very small amounts will be detectably sweet. Don't worry, even poisonous plants do not have poisonous nectar. It is all sugary water, with only trace amounts of other things, so it won't hurt you. The reason for this is that flowers do not want to harm their pollinators, so never put their poisons in the nectar (at least, as far as I know, they don't, and I'm not dead yet!) Sometimes, rainwater can work its way inside and dilute the nectar, but it usually doesn't get deep inside the flower where it is produced.

Another way to check for nectar is if you are outdoors on a sunny day. What I do know is that with certain flowers, you can look at them with strong sunlight behind them, and you can make out the nectar through the translucent base of the flower. If you squeeze the flower gently, you will see the liquid move around. You may need to move or remove the sepals to see this. Although I've never tried it myself, you might also be able to see this by going out at night, backlighting flowers with a flashlight. Then your family and neighbors would really think you're weird! You, at least, may still have a reputation to keep up, but no one who knows me would expect normal behavior from me!

Another method I've heard about, but never tried, is to insert a tiny glass capillary tube into the flower. If you get it deep inside the flower, it will draw the nectar inside by capillary action, and you will see if there's nectar inside.

I feel a little guilty about this, but after buying some nectarless flowers at garden centers, I've begun sampling them surreptitiously. (or is it surruptitiously?) I'm afraid if I ask permission at the store, they'll just say no. Besides, I only take single flowers from plants that have many blossoms, so I'm not really harming their appearance. If there's lots of nectar, I buy the plant!

I hope this helps!

Hi there Kristen,
After reading your post the other day I was taste-testing all my flowers too :) Although only in my own yard. The only one I didn't have to pluck a flower from was the hybiscus. You could literally see the nectar at the base - they are full of it.

Thanks for that idea. I always pluck the honeysuckle and drink from them, now they really are delicious. I'm surprized no one makes a honeysuckle drink.

Carol

Thanks Kristen. Good explanation. I just tasted/tested a few in the yard too. Not much out there yet but the bleeding hearts were definately the sweetest. And I could see the nectar once I knew how to find it. (Just never thought of that.) I've always been pretty tactile with plants, and now I have a new sense to add to the experience.

Sounds like we'd have a jolly good time plant shopping together. Ask permission? Of course not. I find most vendors are usually a lot of fun themselves, and wouldn't mind at all. Thanks again, Sandy

You're welcome! I'm glad my post finally got a little attention, thanks to Sandy resurrecting it. Did your family see you sampling nectar, and is perhaps making secret plans to have you committed?

I've only seen one hummingbird so far this season, and he went straight for the Bleeding Hearts. Sounds like he agrees with you, Sandy, on flower sweetness. He passed up the red Petunias, red annual verbenas, and deep magenta China pinks--all of which have nectar inside. It was just adorable to see him work his way down the row of nodding bleeding hearts. Next to bloom will be the columbines--Aquilegia canadensis, I think. I also found what I think is Salvia coccinea at Home Depot, but the little fellow hasn't been back to sample it. The salvia has many blooms, with lots of very sweet nectar inside.

As for asking permission, I might be able to get up the nerve to ask at a family run nursery with lots of knowledgeable people. They might even enjoy the little experiment and learn something themselves about what to recommend to their hummingbird gardener customers. It's still a bit risky, because they might just look at me with horror, and then follow me all around the nursery to make sure I didn't "vandalize" their plants!

As for asking at the Home Depot type places--definitely not a good idea. Just do it, and don't get caught. That's my approach!

Thanks Kristin for all that information about nectar. I do think I'll try that at my garden center.. Have never thought about it until yesterday when I decided to see if there was any nectar in my pink honeysuckle bush that is finally in bloom. Thinking of old fashioned honeysuckle that I constantly picked as a child and tasted so sweet...I was surprised that this one had none that I could taste! Maybe I did't give it a fair try? Do you know anything about this one - can't remember the name - its small flowers pale pink.
Glad you had one hummer so far I have had none. Still Waiting! My bleeding hearts have a lot of bee activity. I have columbine in bloom, fuschia, begonia, lilacs and a small red impatient. I am so impressed with all you ladies who have so many plants and gardens. I am still just a novice at this and have so much to learn. Thanks for your advice!
Carol
Milford CT

Carol, I'm sorry, but I've never grown the honeysuckle you describe, so don't know about whether it should have a lot of nectar. I thought all or most honeysuckles did, but hey, I'm not an expert on the nectar content of flowers, just doing some experimenting to help me avoid buying nectarless flowers. Make sure that you really check deep inside the flower. Sometimes, when there's very little nectar in a flower, what little there is is deep inside, and easy to miss.

I think there are several possible factors that can affect how much nectar is in a flower. Obviously, some varieties of flowers just don't offer much or any. An older flower, on a plant that normally produces a good nectar supply, may have less nectar than a younger flower. If lots of bees, butterflies, or hummers are sucking the nectar out, I suppose they could drain an individual flower dry. I think some flowers only produce nectar at night, or at certain times of the day. It all depends on nature's intended pollinator. Flowers that have evolved to be pollinated by hummingbirds will obviously produce their nectar during the daylight hours. I'm sure there are probably other factors involved. I imagine there's also a lot that just isn't known, or is known only to scientific researchers who carefully study these sorts of things.

I haven't been able to watch much, and haven't noticed any more hummers since that first, and only one. The level of sugar water in my tiny feeder is not going down between cleanings, so I don't seem to be getting any visitors there. If they're coming, they're sneaking in and sipping from my petunias, verbenas, Dianthus, or Salvia coccinea. I just haven't had much time to watch for them.

Thanks Kristin for the information. I'll check again for nectar. Never thought of them having nectar at night...Anyhow the cardinals are enjoying the honeysuckle and the butterfly bush and picking at the branches/stems. I am learning so much from all you gardners - have a long way to go- am such a novice. My interest has increased a million fold since I am so addicted to hummers and want to get mine back again sooner than last year. Today I bought some more salvia - love that! Got Black and Blue, Salvia Greggii, and some others along with Agastache Tuttii Fruitti! Did you get your hummer yet?
Carol

He and others might be visiting my flowers, but I've been too busy trying to handle a family crisis to notice. I'm keeping the feeder clean and filled, but the nectar level remains about the same, so I don't think anyone is visiting it.

I sure hope I don't have to wait until August, like last year, to get frequent visitors. I have lots of hummer flowers out that I didn't have last spring, so am hopeful that some hungry birds will start to make regular visits. There are lots of woods around here, too, so I'm sure there is lots of good habitat for them. So, it seems like my chances should be good.

Hopefully, I'll get a little more time and can watch more. It's possible I'm getting visitors who just don't understand my feeder and don't see it as a food source. It has a home made, bright red flower on it, so I would think they would get curious, and catch on pretty fast.

I'm still testing for nectar, and finding it in the following flowers, which are now in bloom:

Kolkwitzia (Beauty Bush)
Red Petunias
Salvia coccinea
Dianthus chinensis

There's also some 8 foot tall, shrubby honeysuckle that is now in bloom in the back yard. It planted itself some years back, so I don't know what the heck it is. I haven't tested it for nectar, but I imagine it has some.

The native columbines are on the verge of blooming, so I'll soon be testing them, too. Most of my other stuff won't be blooming until next month, at the earliest--stuff like Monarda "Gardenview Scarlet," Cardinal Climbers, Fuchsia "Billy Green," then maybe my Four o' clocks, Zinnias, and later in the summer the Agastache, Lobelia cardinalis, and Trumpet vine. I'm really striving for a succession of bloom, so hopefully, these will all thrive for me and draw in the hummers.

I'll let ya know!

I was sampling the Gold Flame Honeysuckle in my garden this weekend. I just bite off the base and enjoy as we did as kids. This vine was a hummer favorite last year.

In addition to "taste testing" the end of flowers - something I haven't done since I was a kit, another alternative is to make use of the "PlantFinder" search tool located within the Missouri Botanical Gardens website.

In the link below, I've listed one of the gems that I added to my garden in the fall of last year. It's Phlox paniculata 'Mount Fuji', which is listed as attracting hummingbirds and butterflies. I am hoping that this particular flower will be one of the "magnets" in my garden later this summer. You should take note that this link offers a great deal of information including many sources. Fortunately, I was easily able to find this particular variety locally through the efforts of a very knowledgeable rural garden center.

In the meantime, those of you who are interested in exploring this fine gardening tool, I recommend that you begin with their general search page, which is listed below.

http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Search.asp

So for those of you who are looking for nectar producing plants, just simply "key" in the other factors for your consideration - zone, type of sunlight, etc. and meander around.

And for those of you who are traveling to or through the city of St. Louis, MO - please do take the time to enjoy one of the most wondrous and delightful gardens in the midwest. It is so full of delights that you should plan to spend at least a day and half - minimum - to take in all of its bounteous gems and offerings.

Hope this is useful in your gardening endeavors.

Bill

Here is a link that might be useful: Phlox paniculata 'Mount Fuji'