Attracting Hummingbirds & Butterflies

August 31, 2021

If you are planning a new garden with lots of flowering plant material, why not include plants that will attract some of nature's smallest miracles: the ruby-throated hummingbird or a beautiful butterfly?

ATTRACTING BUTTERFLIES

Butterflies use plants for food, to lay their eggs, and to pupate.
Plant a variety of flowering plant material to attract butterflies for three of the four seasons.
Butterflies are attracted to the scents of certain garden plants rather than the flower colour and shape.
Some crossover plants that will attract both butterflies and hummingbirds include lilac, rose of Sharon, butterfly bush, bee balm, lavender, liatris, cardinal flower, and annual nicotiana.
In spring, butterflies will visit gardens with perennials such as candytuft, primula, wall cress, and soapwort. Shrubs such as the Double Play® spirea and fragrant varieties of viburnum can also be beneficial.
Summer offers annuals such as heliotrope, alyssum, cosmos, and lantana, and perennials including Shasta daisy, Helen’s flower, coneflower, pincushion flower, tickseed, black-eyed Susan, and butterfly weed. Shrubs like summersweet, caryopteris, and potentilla are also favourite summer destinations.
During fall, butterflies will be encouraged to linger before their long migration with chrysanthemums, sedums, and asters.

ATTRACTING HUMMINGBIRDS

A hummingbird’s main source of food is nectar. They will feed from any coloured flower that holds nectar; however, they will be drawn in by bright red, pink, orange, and purple flowers that have tubular, funnel, or bell-shaped blossoms.
Hummingbirds also consume aphids, spiders, and other small insects.
Provide fresh water in a birdbath for hummingbirds to enjoy.
Hummingbirds are fond of spring-blooming plants including fruit trees, horsechestnut, crab apple, lilac, flowering quince, azaleas, weigela, columbine, and foxglove.
In summer, plant annuals such as fuchsia, salvia, nasturtium, morning glory, petunia, snapdragon, cleome, and zinnia, and perennials like penstemon, bee balm, phlox, bell flower, red-hot poker plant, cardinal flower, lavender, and liatris to attract these visitors.
Honeysuckle, trumpet vine, butterfly bush, rose of Sharon, and gladioli will also bring hummingbirds to your garden.

Hummingbird Feeders

Place hummingbird feeders near the flowers you wish to attract them to.
Buy hummingbird food for your feeder that is mixed with water upon application.
Clean your feeder thoroughly every 2–3 days in hot weather and refill with fresh hummingbird nectar; the build-up of bacteria can be detrimental to hummingbirds.
Avoid honey or artificial sweeteners, as these will cause a fungus to form on the hummingbird’s tongue

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