That is a nice looking plant; haven't noticed them at the nursery yet. Unfortunately, hummingbirds completely ignore my cuphea. I think it is a proximity thing--it is surrounded by Rusellia. But still, I would have thought once in a while, in their hurry to eat, they would accidentally visit a flower or two...

Interesting. I've got a Russelia equisetiformis in a pot along with a couple pots of Cuphea 'David Verity'. My hummers come to both but I wonder if the russelia has a higher sugar content?

-Robert

Yes! Found it at Ace Hardware in Tulsa along with some other plants. :)

I know this is an old thread, but I figured I would share this anyway. A work friend gave me a couple of those little plants bc she had luck attracting ruby throated hummingbirds with them in the past. I potted them last summer and we never noticed a hummingbird until mid-Sept, but I'm guessing they were probably there all summer and we just didn't see them as they are so fast. This is her, and she zipped in and out so quickly that I wouldn't have noticed her unless I was looking for her. I just hung a hummingbird feeder today in hopes to get them to stick around the yard a little longer.

At ~ 10 o'clock:

This is fantastic plant for hummingbirds!! I have grown it for about 5 years now and my year round hummers visit it continuously. And it blooms almost continuously as well.......from early April until well into November in my garden, possibly even later. And while it is not considered fully hardy for my zone, mine overwintered very nicely this past year.

I read the same thing about Vermillionaire being a hummingbird magnet. So I'm growing it in a container for the first time this year. So far, it's been a slow grower and the hummingbirds have all but ignored it. I can update later in the summer with progress.

It definitely is a good hummer plant! I have grown it for a few years and 3 pots, along with 2 pots of Salvia Guatanitica 'Black and Blue'. They get about the same usage, but the hummers will generally hit the Vermillionaire first, and the combination of the purple/blue and orange flowers looks fantastic!

I think the Russelia (32+%) does have a higher sugar content than the Cuphea (30%), but nobody carries it around my area, and I would have to pay the extra to buy from mail order and have it shipped.

Russelia is definitely worth mail ordering! The hummers go to each bloom. It never fails to impress human visitors as well.

I purchased a Cuphea 'Vermillionaire' again this spring since they're so readily available. The hummers do go to it but visually it looks a little ratty and it tends to sprawl and the blooms are smaller than 'David Verity' so given my choice I would always choose the latter (which is the one on top in the pic below with 'Vermillionaire' below). Of course 'David Verity' gets super tall so you can't have it all I guess. Laugh.

Yea, I think I'll order a Russelia and probably Hamelia...Heck, might as well get a 'DV' while I'm at it!. I'll have to see if I can get them to overwinter this time.

I found one this spring at a fav nursery and it never really had a chance to get into flowering as japanese beetles took it over. Because of its lack of size I prefer david verity.

I hear you Steve. Damn JB's got mine too. I had it out front on my deck railing and had Salvia 'Black and Bloom' in front. I couldn't see the Cuphea very well, and by the time I noticed them, it was too late. They devoured them.