Salvias...Lots of salvias. I don't mean the ones that are labeled 'Bonfire' or 'Red Hot Sally' that come in 6 paks. Those are Salvia splendens and while they are very vivid, they contain very little nectar. I am talking about the Salvia coccineas such as 'Lady in Red' 'Coral Nymph' and a few other named cultivars. You may find Lady in Red at a local Wal Mart if you have one close by. Also check out Ace Hardware as I understand they are carrying them in some areas. Other Good Salvias for hummers are Salvia greggiis such as 'Cherry Chief' and 'Maraschino', Salvia guarantiaca and the cultivar 'Black and Blue'. These plants once they start blooming will bloom all summer and into fall until we get a killing frost. If you can only get a couple of plants get the Salvia coccinea 'Lady in Red'. It will provide lots of seed for new plants next year and it will probably reseed for you also. Don't waste time or money on Salvia Blue Hill, Blue Bedder, Rose Queen, Blue Queen or May Night as the hummers just won't use them.

Another good plant for hummers that will bloom most of the summer is Agastache. There are many that are hardy to zone 5 or 6 such as 'Tutti Frutti', 'Desert Sunrise', Apricot Sunrise, Apricot Sprite, Sonoran Sunset, Rupestris. These plants all have sensational scents. Some are fruit scented, some are citrus scented and Rupestris smells like licorice. The trick to agastaches is well draining soil.

Penny

What Penny said. Agastache and Salvia were my best plants. If you are in the Phila. area, Agastache Tutti Frutti may be hardy for you. It made it through last winter here near Allentown. I have also had luck with Honeysuckle. I bought Gold Flame Honeysuckle last year and it bloomed throughout the summer. I am pleased that it bloomed early this spring.

Harry is right. Honeysuckle is a great addtion. I grow the native species Lornicera sempervirens (Coral Honeysuckle) and though the flowers aren't quite as stunning as the Gold Flame it does bloom all summer and is very hardy. Mine came back with a vengence this year after moving it in the fall and severly pruning it (in order to move it). Unlike Hall's or Japanese Honeysuckle, it is not invasive.

Penny

For flowers that bloom before the Monarda, you could try Bleeding Heart and native Red Columbine, which bloom in that order. My Bleeding Hearts were visited this spring by a lone male, (the only hummer I've seen this spring) but they are done blooming now. Columbines are taking their place in the succession of bloom, just beginning now that the Bleeding Hearts have faded. Columbines are a well known hummer attractant, but this is my first year with them, so I can't give you any personal experience and don't know how good they'll turn out to be. There are also some early blooming shrubs that are supposed to be good, like Weigela, Flowering Quince, and certain Azaleas, especially native ones. I have Gardenview Scarlet Monardas, and they are getting taller by the day, but are nowhere near blooming yet.

As for later than Monarda, if you don't mind rampant growers, my Trumpet Vines bloomed well into September last year and were a huge hit with the hummingbirds. They pretty much bloomed all the way until the birds departed for migration. Unfortunately, it can take several years for them to get their first blooms, so you'll need to find a nice sunny spot, and be patient with them.

I found what I think is "Lady in Red" salvia at Home Depot. It was in a pot with other things, but I was so excited to see it, that I bought it and planted it in the garden. It's doing fine, and the flowers are just loaded with nectar. I wish I had more time to watch and see if these flowers are getting visited, but a family crisis is continuing to take up way too much of my time. We're OK, it's just stressful. The feeder is not being used as far as I can tell.

Hi pinwheel! In addition to what others suggested, I have a heuchera ('Firefly') that has been blooming the past couple weeks and it is one with red-colored blooms that hummers are known to sample:

There are a number of heucheras sold but mostly for the foliage so look for varieties that have an appropriate bloom.

In addition, this year was the first time that I confirmed that a hummer would actually nectar from lilacs as I watched one of mine do so - and both of my lilacs are the later blooming S. patula and S. prestoniae hybrids. The S. vulgaris cultivars would bloom earlier. Also blueberries may attract some sampling and although I didn't personally see it happen, I expect they may have sampled a few of the blooms that are still on my bushes (most of the bloom occurred before I saw my first hummer this year, but a few straggler blooms remain).

Right now, both my weigelas ("Red Prince" and "Midnight Wine") are in full bloom. I knew hummers nectared from "Red Prince", which was one of the shrubs that attracted them to my spot, but this spring I confirmed one nectaring from the "Wine and Roses".

I bought a coral honeysuckle this year ('Blanche Sandman') which was already in bloom, so that is being used. However I'm not sure when it would bloom next year in my little microclimate, although I expect it would do so closer to the time that my mandarin honeysuckle blooms. And my mandarin honeysuckle is currently budding up to bloom soon and I watched as one of my hummers spotted it and continues to check on it and peck at it. I'm afraid the hummie will have to wait until it actually blooms! Pecking at it won't make it bloom faster. LOL

Some other early-bloomers include some dianthus I am trying this year and a native american wisteria. So I'll see how these do.

Anyway, last year I bought some already-growing Jacob Cline monarda which had its first bloom June 15. I don't expect my current crop to be blooming by then, although if it warms up soon, it might. In any case, the above listed plants all generally bloom before the monarda, even with many of my plants running about a week early this year due to the mild winter.

Hi Everyone! :)

Don't forget the annuals they love! Petunias, impatients including New Guniea, fushia, verbena, geraniums, sunset lantana to name a few. Lets see.........a few more perrenials: hosta, siberian iris, thistle, jewelweed, cardinal flower, butterfly bush, butterfly weed, blue anise sage and a big favorite the yellow shrimp plant! There are so many!

Happy planting and hummningbird watching to you all!

Marcy :)