They go for the native orange honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa), currently in bloom in the local lowlands.

Climbing honeysuckles are just one in a long list of plants that are attractive to hummingbirds. Most varieties do very well in our climate provided they receive good drainage and are sited in as much sun as possible. Too much shade often results in powdery mildew.

Hummers visit most of my flowering plants. I sit on the porch and watch them go from plant to plant, no matter what the color is. One spent a lot of time on the huckleberry bush one day. The next day I was weeding beside it and he came and hovered about a foot away from my face and stayed there quite a while, so I moved away from the plant and he moved in to feed. Bossy little guy. :)

Plant a row of scarlet runner beans on a trellis and the hummers will love you. Plus you get to eat beans.

I sat outside today and watched the hummers go thru the columbine and fuchsias; even the tiny flowered enclirindae.

Only some of the hybrid honeysuckles attract hummers. The amount of nectar and the sugar concentration varies from one cultivar to the next. 'Alabama Crimson' is supposed to be a hummer attractor.

Check out a hummingbird forum for more info. There is one here at GW and another at Network54, to name a couple.

Beware 'Hall's' honeysuckle...supposedly quite invasive.