eta : a thrill to see this beautiful hummer

Sorry quality is poor I really had to zoom in

I'm in coastal Southern California, so I'm not familiar with Murrieta's climate. However, abutilon is supposed to do fine in zone 9 with morning sun and afternoon shade.

Abutilons come in different shapes and sizes, so check with your local nursery for the one that best suits your space.

Abutilon information: https://www.gardenista.com/posts/gardening-101-abutilons/

Oh thank you Nancy ! I have noticed those around , I’ll take a closer look next time . I didn’t know they attrac hummers ! I love the soft coral colorde one

He's a beauty! Thanks for sharing the photo.

I mostly have Anna's and 1 Allen's right now with a very territorial Rufous during spring migration.

Pick up a Western Garden Book at any bookstore or online or your local library should have one to browse.

I have bush germanders teucrium fruticana Azureum in for the hummers and bees love them also. They are in purple and sometimes seem iridescent with gray foliage which mostly blooms late winter/spring . I also have cape honeysuckle in orange which is blooming now in winter. Cape Honeysuckle can get huge, I trim it to 3 feet at least twice a year. It would hide the fence, but the fence isn't ugly at all. For summer should be enough sun for salvia greggii also known as autumn sage. Any sage or salvia they will enjoy. Another they like is bottlebrush. There is a variety known as Little John can get 5 feet tall and wide and blooms in red. Woodpeckers and orioles are also attracted to them.

I have all these planted and some only get 4 hours of sun and still bloom and all are drought tolerant.

Nice to visit for ideas:

San Diego botanical gardens

Rancho Santa Ana Botanical gardens

Myrtle Creek Botanical Gardens

All the wineries are beautifully landscaped in the Temecula area to visit also.

Many Perennial Salvia should be happy there and will bloom in Fall and Winter as well. I like Purple Salvia "Amistad" ...

I have never seen a hummers or bees on my Abutilon, but it’s one the few plants that will grow in my spot with 6 hours morning sun in summer and 1 hour morning sun in winter. The other plants that grow there are heliotrope, which bees love, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, a ground cover with true blue flowers and Juncus patens, an evergreen rush that has wonderful contrasting texture against the other plants there. Golden oregano also grows in the front of that bed with one hour more sun both summer and winter.

Also check out Love and Wishes salvia with burgundy flowers and the closely related Wendy’s Wish with pink flowers. L&W is in full bloom in my garden today. I trimmed it back in October and gave it a shot of Miracle Grow as my soil has little Nitrogen and it looks fabulous right now. They like at least 6 hours of sun but not a baking hot spot in the yard. So it October they were looking pretty ratty, but now they are lush. Hummers adore them!

Love and Wishes

You are probably Sunset zone 18 or 19, I think. Grevillea 'Robin Gordon', or some of the others, would probably have a long bloom period. In my garden it was never out of bloom throughout the year. They aren't fragrant though. Sadly, I had to remove mine because I have a bad reaction to getting poked by the foliage.

Your Costa's hummingbird is a beauty!

My best plant for hummingbirds is iochroma cyanea, but that plant might overwhelm your space.

Abutilon has been consistent in attracting hummingbirds; I have one that's grown into a small tree.

Also dependable is justicia carnea.

I would second iochroma, the hummers go mad for mine. They take heavy pruning if you don't want them tall.
http://www.anniesannuals.com/search/?q=iochroma

I also have several colors of abutilon, they will visit those and mine are in mostly shade.

My Limelight salvia had two hummers fighting this morning, but that is a plant that ate my garden (10 feet by 10 feet at last count) Another mexican salvia would be a smaller choice

https://www.fbts.com/mexican-salvias/

Carla in Sac

My abutilon are covered with hummingbirds 12 mo of the year.

Pineapple sage attracts hummingbirds and can grow in partial shade. Mine is in the shade of an orange tree. They also like salvia chiapensis. Both plants are low water. https://www.cnps.org/gardening/hummingbird-gardening-5098

Thank you fantastic garden neighbors!! I am so excited to learn these new plants. Happily a lot of these were suggested when I went to Armstrong’s yesterday. I was able to buy a “Victorian lady abutilon” on sale . Now the stems are thin and they have it staked like a tree. Is this how to carry on with the plant or do I release them and let them grow naturally?

I did see the silver grey germander , it was so beautiful. Should have gotten one! I am ordering the Iochroma from Annie’s , I have a friend who grows one and it’s so gorgeous. I don’t care if it takes over lol

and yay ! I already have amistad and Wendy’s wish salvia . They are doing so well this time of year . There are so many beautiful plants suggested . I wish I had a bigger yard !

Do rose of Sharon grow well here? Haven’t noticed them around but remember them being loved.

Is there a honeysuckle that dosnt get mildew here? My fav was always the gold flame one , but at Armstrong’s all of them had powdery mildew on them .

I thank you all for your time and input!! I am trying to keep the hummers happy here . I really miss all my birds from Tennessee (cardinals blue jays bluebirds etc ) and in my little yard now I only have finches , Hummers and one sweet little Phoebe that comes to take a bath. So I want to enjoy them the best I can!

A copy of the Sunset Western Garden book will be a big help to you in helping you get acquainted with what grows well in your area. If you don't want to buy one, most public libraries have them. California has so many climate zones it can be a big help. Riverside Master Gardeners can also be of help. UC Master Gardeners of Riverside County We don't have an official drought currently, but we get a lot less water than many other parts of the US.

Lilyfinch, we're in SoCal close to Pasadena. When I saw the title of your post my first thought was Abutilon. We've had several over the years that attracted lots of hummers.

You asked about Rose of Sharon. We had a beautiful one at our previous home here. We also had a Cape Honeysuckle that was extremely aggressive with no mildew. It was in full sun most of the day.

We had a row of orange cape honeysuckle for many years that got only a shot or two of supplemental water from the hose each summer. So it’s very drought tolerant. And lots of hummingbirds on it! They don’t have fragrance though. There is a yellow version that would work better with the pastels in your garden.
https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/87075/#b

Cape honeysuckle, Tecoma capensis, is a completely different plant from any Lonicera type honeysuckle Lilyfinch might be more familiar with. Still very attractive to hummers though.

Cape honeysuckle grows easily almost anywhere, but if you don't prune enough, it will grow to be a giant. I have one in a side yard that I'm having removed after 25 years because it got too big for me to maintain and the lower branches rooted and started new shrubs. Hummingbirds like it. They stay near the top because the lower part of the shrub is mainly branches from lack of sunlight. All the green growth and flowers are higher where the plant gets more sun.

The best plant I've had for hummingbirds is Campsis radicans, and I had a purple one in Venice that bloomed all year. It can be invasive and requires a lot of pruning, however, and so I do not have one now, although I've seen it growing in my neighborhood is west Los Angeles near the beach. I keep a hummingbird feeder, but I also have a lot of bromeliads that bloom in the winter, and the hummingbirds like those.

The first plant that comes to my mind for hummingbirds & morning sun, afternoon shade is Gambelia speciosa (used to be called Galvezia speciosa), island snapdragon. Also Savia spathacea, hummingbird sage. Hummingbirds in our yard are wild over both these red-flowering plants.

we have hummingbirds daily in both front and back yards where our red salvia gets only part sun/shade and the birds are on them every day.

Salvia Guaranitica (Black and Blue, Argentine Skies, Blue Ensign, Wishes series, Amistad) also Cuphea (David Verity, Vermillionaire) are my 2 best up here on the North East.

Yes to the above suggestions and also to all the wonderful coral bells kinds. I like salvia lady in red. It never stops. Cut some back, let others grow. You'll have a continuous supply of flowers. Salvia coccinia I think.

Lady in red was an all America selection. It has more flowers than most and will not stop blooming. Easy to find the seeds. There are many pretty colors of salvia coccinea you can get from seed. If you make the upper areas of the soil sandy, there will be many new plants. You won't have to sow them. They will do it themselves.

How wonderful to return to

many more answers! I’m so happy to have a great list to choose from now. I

like the suggestion to cut them back just a few at a time . That’s a great idea! I’m dying to get my hands on an iochroma too . I hope this week to look around locally if the kiddos don’t complain too much ;)

Kitty , so happy to see you posting again!! I saw you over in roses too. ;)