Skip to content

Top Navigation

Midwest Living Midwest Living
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Home
  • Garden
  • Holidays
  • Videos
  • current issue
  • Sweepstakes
  • Road Rally
  • About Us

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Win Your Dream Getaway!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Magazine Issues
  • Destinations
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Midwest Living

Midwest Living Midwest Living
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 7 Fresh Places to Eat, Drink, Play and Stay This Winter

      7 Fresh Places to Eat, Drink, Play and Stay This Winter

      Hot off the minds of Midwest travel writers: a fresh look at where to eat, drink, play and stay around the region. Read More
    • Meet Five Midwest Cake Creators (and Try Their Recipes)

      Meet Five Midwest Cake Creators (and Try Their Recipes)

      One has conquered the world of plant-based baking. Another runs a microbakery from her home. Two own businesses with their spouses. And the fifth is a James Beard finalist chef. The common thread? Absolutely delicious cakes. Read More
    • The No-Fail Relish Tray Recipe is Here

      The No-Fail Relish Tray Recipe is Here

      For many Midwesterners, holiday feasting kicks off with a relish tray. We dare not mess with an icon—at least, not too much. Read More
  • Travel

    Travel

    See All Travel
    Why Wisconsin Supper Clubs Just Keep Getting Better With Age

    Why Wisconsin Supper Clubs Just Keep Getting Better With Age

    At Wisconsin supper clubs, the steak is served rare and the traditions are well done. Like the brandy in an Old-Fashioned, these timeless institutions only get better with age.
    • Weekend Getaways
    • Family Travel
    • Around the Region
    • Beyond the Region
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Michigan
    • Minnesota
    • Missouri
    • Nebraska
    • North Dakota
    • Ohio
    • South Dakota
    • Wisconsin
    • Free Travel Info
  • Food

    Food

    See All Food
    Tomatoey Parmesan Beans

    Tomatoey Parmesan Beans

    This sleeper hit of a weeknight dinner comes from Food Network star Molly Yeh's cookbook Home is Where the Eggs Are—and is basically a vehicle for Parmesan and garlic toast. No complaints! (The alternate version, with ham and cream, is excellent too.)
    • Comfort Foods
    • Desserts & Baking
    • Breakfast
    • Quick & Easy
    • Chicken
    • Soups & Stews
    • Midwest Favorites
    • Fruits & Vegetables
    • Fish
    • Grilling
  • Home

    Home

    See All Home
    Avid DIYers Transform a 1929 Chicago Home One Project at a Time

    Avid DIYers Transform a 1929 Chicago Home One Project at a Time

    With visions of dinner parties and game nights dancing in their heads, a Chicago couple renovated their historic (and first) home, one DIY project at a time.
    • Quick Decorating
    • Featured Homes
    • Organizing & Storage
    • Outdoor Living
    • Seasonal Decorating
    • Room Decorating
  • Garden

    Garden

    See All Garden
    How to Care for Flowering Houseplants

    How to Care for Flowering Houseplants

    Author Lisa Eldred Steinkopf shares how to make blooms last longer—and repeat.
    • Container Gardens
    • Flowers
    • Featured Gardens
    • Midwest Gardening Calendar
    • Garden Ideas & Inspiration
  • Holidays

    Holidays

    See All Holidays
    Unique Midwest Light Displays to See This Winter

    Unique Midwest Light Displays to See This Winter

    Buses, trains and very few automobiles—check out these out-of-the-ordinary holiday lights displays.
    • Easter
    • July 4th
    • Thanksgiving
    • Halloween
    • Christmas
    • Valentine's Day
  • Videos

    Videos

    See All Videos
    Chef Jorge Guzmán's Step-by-Step Guide to Making Tamales

    Chef Jorge Guzmán's Step-by-Step Guide to Making Tamales

    Tamales are a project, but many hands—even tiny ones—make lighter work.
    • Brighten Your Front Door with This Colorful Easter Egg Wreath
    • These DIY Orange Beeswax Candles Will Make Your Home Smell Amazing
    • Ring in the New Year with This Glam Star Garland
    • How to Make a Modern Fruit Cake Box
    • An Eye-Catching Oval Treat Box You Can Make
    • Make a Colorful Paper Raffia Wreath to Welcome Fall
    • How to Make a Dried Floral Arrangement
    • How to Make an Easy Pina Colada
    • How to Make an Amazing Pavlova
    • How to Make Pumpkin-Spice Icebox Cake
    • How to Make an All-Butter Pie Crust
    • DIY Pistachio Wheat Stalks for Fall Decorating
  • current issue

    current issue

    See All current issue
    About Us

    About Us

    • March/April 2022 Issue
    • January/February 2022 Issue
    • November/December 2021 Issue
    • September/October 2021 Issue
    • July/August 2021 Issue
    • May/June 2021 Issue
    • Summer 2022 Issue
    • Fall 2022 Issue
    • Winter 2022 Issue
  • Sweepstakes
  • Road Rally
  • About Us

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Win Your Dream Getaway!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Magazine Issues
  • Destinations
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Midwest Living
  2. Garden
  3. Flowers
  4. Start a Hummingbird Garden

Start a Hummingbird Garden

By Written by Amy McDowell June 01, 2012
Skip gallery slides
Pin
Hummingbird plant resources
Learn how to draw the world's tiniest birds to your garden with these colorful flowers.
Start Slideshow

1 of 11

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Tiny joys

Tiny joys

Gardeners Kathi and Michael Rock of Madison, Wisconsin, are enchanted with hummingbirds. "Hummingbirds truly embody the magic, joy and freedom that we as humans would love to have," Kathi says.Kathi knows hummingbirds' amazing statistics: They can fly faster than any other birds and have the largest proportionate brain size. And, of course, they can hover and snatch insects in midair.Kathi and Michael first fell in love with hummingbirds a decade ago after adding a hummingbird feeder to their backyard. Now they have two dozen feeders and more than a hundred kinds of annuals and perennials to cater to the tastes and habits of their flying friends."We try to have plants that bloom at every point during the season," Kathi says. The feeders fill in when flowers aren't growing in early spring and after fall frosts.

1 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 11

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Sharing their Midwest expertise

Sharing their Midwest expertise

The Rocks pass along their 10 years of expertise by hosting a hummingbird gardening website and by giving community presentations. They've learned a lot over the years about hummingbird habits in the Midwest.Although there are 300 kinds of hummingbirds, the ruby-throated (left) is the only one common throughout the Midwest. The tiny birds arrive here in May and June, then leave gardens to build nests in isolated forest areas. As soon as mating is over, in early July, the males begin to migrate because they play no role in raising the young. Females head south after their offspring learn to fly."We see an increase in the number of hummingbirds beginning in early August," Kathi says. "Our peak time in Madison is traditionally mid-September. By then, most of the adult males are gone, and we're seeing female and immature birds almost exclusively."Hummingbird Gardening in the Upper Midwest

2 of 11

3 of 11

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Hummer flower magnets

Hummer flower magnets

Hummingbirds will dine from flowers of any color, but red attracts them best. "They can see red up to a mile away," Kathi says.Flowers with tubular blossoms evolved with hummingbirds, so the Rocks keep a good supply. Hummingbirds also eat spiders and insects, including mosquitoes and gnats.Kathi recommends six plants to get your hummingbird garden started: perennials honeysuckle, bee balm and cardinal flower, as well as annuals Mexican cigar plant, blue anise sage and Texas sage. These plants are pictured here and on the next five slides.Bee balm (Monarda didyma, left) has blooms that look like starbursts and fragrant foliage. It reaches 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide. Grow in full sun or light shade. Zone 4.

3 of 11

Advertisement

4 of 11

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Red trumpets

Red trumpets

The red or red-orange variety of honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens, left) blooms with trumpet-shape flowers on a vine that reaches 10 -- 15 feet long. Grow in full sun. Zone 4.

4 of 11

5 of 11

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Bright red blossoms

Bright red blossoms

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis, left) attracts hummers with fire truck red blossoms on 2- to 3-foot-tall stalks from late summer through fall. Grow in full sun or part shade. Zone 2.

5 of 11

6 of 11

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Good for containers

Good for containers

Mexican cigar plant (Cuphea 'David Verity', left) grows 2 feet tall with orange tubular flowers and tips that resemble lit cigars. It flowers from early summer until frost, grows well in containers and thrives in full sun.

6 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 11

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Purple for hummers

Purple for hummers

Blue anise sage (Salvia guaranitica, left) blooms with purpleflowers from summer through fall. It reaches 2-4 feet tall. Grow in fullsun to part shade.

7 of 11

8 of 11

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Prolific bloomers

Prolific bloomers

Texas sage (Salvia coccinea, left) flowers prolifically with redflowers summer through fall. It reaches 2 feet tall and grows easily fromseed. Grow in full sun.

8 of 11

9 of 11

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Make your own nectar

Make your own nectar

When your flowers aren't blooming, feeders will help attract hummingbirds. Mix one part sugar with four parts tap water. Sugar dissolves quickly in warm water, so there's no need to boil it. When nectarlooks cloudy or moldy, wash the feeder and refill with a fresh batch.While a traditional feeder is hung off a house or on a stand near your home, many different varieties are available, including ones that you can place in the ground (left) at any attractive spot in your garden.

9 of 11

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 11

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Follow the migration

Follow the migration

In the fall, young hummers linger longest in nectar-filled gardens before heading to southern Mexico or Central America. "They fly 500 miles over the Gulf of Mexico nonstop across the water," says Alicia King, director of the Bird Conservation Alliance in Indianapolis.When will they be back? You can track spring hummingbird returns at the website below.Ruby-throated Hummingbird MigrationBird Conservation Alliance

10 of 11

11 of 11

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Hummingbird plant resources

Hummingbird plant resources

Hummingbird-friendly plants are available by mail. Try Glasshouse Works, Goodwin Creek Gardens and Sunlight Gardens. Pictured: Red bee balm juts above cleome.(A version of this story appeared in Midwest Living® July/August 2008.)Glasshouse WorksGoodwin Creek GardensSunlight Gardens

11 of 11

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Written by Amy McDowell

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 11 Tiny joys
    2 of 11 Sharing their Midwest expertise
    3 of 11 Hummer flower magnets
    4 of 11 Red trumpets
    5 of 11 Bright red blossoms
    6 of 11 Good for containers
    7 of 11 Purple for hummers
    8 of 11 Prolific bloomers
    9 of 11 Make your own nectar
    10 of 11 Follow the migration
    11 of 11 Hummingbird plant resources

    Share & More

    Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message
    Midwest Living

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Contact Us
    • Help
    • Free Newsletters this link opens in a new tab
    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
    • Renew this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Affiliate Program
    • Free Travel Info this link opens in a new tab
    • Special Promotions this link opens in a new tab
    • Sweepstakes this link opens in a new tab
    • Video
    • Home Advisor this link opens in a new tab
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Sign Up
    MeredithMidwest Living is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Midwest Living. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.midwestliving.com

    Sign in

    View image

    Start a Hummingbird Garden
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.