Attracting Hummingbirds to your Garden

Posted on May 15, 2017

Hummingbirds are a special treat in the garden and we always consider ourselves lucky to see one. But did you know that seeing one in your garden doesn’t have to rely on luck? You can make your garden a hummingbird retreat and design it to be hummingbird friendly and plant flowers that will bring them to your garden. You need to provide plants rich in nectar, plus a source of shade and water. This will bring hummingbirds to your garden regularly.

While they are mostly attracted to tubular blooms; they also love orange, pink and yellow blooms. And single blooms will provide easier access to the nectar than multiple blooms. Hummingbirds are not continuously flying – they like to rest as well, so shrubs and trees will give them a place to rest and to nest as well. They need eight times their body weight in water on daily basis, so a small garden fountain with a small spray nozzle of a dripper near your flower bed will attract them.

Here are some amazing facts about hummingbirds:

When they were first seen by Spanish explorers; they called them “joyas voladoras” – translation: “flying jewels”. (BC Farm Fresh comment: what a perfect name for them!)
The rufous hummingbird makes the longest migratory trip – more than 3,000 miles from nesting grounds in Alaska and Canada to his winter habitat in Mexico
The average hummingbird weighs 3 grams – in comparison, a nickel weighs 4.5 grams
One single bird can visit 1,000 – 2,000 blossoms in a day
A hummingbirds has between 1,000-1,500 feathers and that is the fewest number of any bird species in the world
Hummingbirds need to consume about ½ of its body weight in sugar every day – the average hummingbird will feed 5-8 times every hour

They are big eaters, so what are some of the best flowers to provide them with food and attract them to your garden? We looked around for a list of flowers to attract hummingbirds to your garden. Wow, there are lots. We’d advise you to talk to someone at your favorite BC Farm Fresh garden centre.

They can be found at: https://www.bcfarmfresh.com/farm-products/bedding-plants/.

We don’t claim to be an expert, but here are just some of the flowers that we found: