8 Stunning Native Plants That Are Hummingbird Magnets These bright flowers are a food source for your backyard birds. Close Credit: BirdImages / Getty Images Filling your garden with native plants is a sustainable approach to backyard landscaping, as you support your local fauna with the flora best suited to their needs. Drawing hummingbirds to your yard with native plants is no exception. Regional climbing vines, tubular flowers, bright hues, and trumpet-shaped blossoms are ideal for enticing hummingbirds by offering access to nectar. Ahead, our experts share the native colorful, nectar-filled blooms that will upgrade your yard and help the hummingbirds in your region thrive. Tess Renusch, senior coordinator on the native plant habitat team at the National Wildlife Federation Adrienne Roethling, head gardener for a private estate and former curator of Juniper Level Botanic Gardens at Plant Delights Nursery 11 Long-Blooming Flowers That Will Keep Hummingbirds Coming Back All Season 01 of 08 Eastern Columbine Credit: Getty Images The bloom season of eastern columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) makes it a key food source for the ruby-throated hummingbird, since the red and yellow flowers provide nectar during the same season as the birds' northward migration. "Nodding, tubular flowers make it easy for hummingbirds to hover below and feed," says Tess Renusch, senior coordinator on the Native Plant Habitat Team at the National Wildlife Federation. The plant is also low-maintenance, as it is drought-tolerant once established, and no fertilizer or pruning is necessary, she adds. Zones: 3 to 8Size: 12 to 36 inches tall x 12 to 18 inches wideCare requirements: Full to partial shade; well-draining soil 02 of 08 Coral Honeysuckle Credit: Getty / Sharon Talson Coral honeysuckle is a native vine that attracts hummingbirds with its nectar-filled, colorful blooms, available in shades of yellow, orange, or pink. Roethling notes that hummingbirds aren’t the only species that love the nectar found in coral honeysuckle blossoms. "Gardeners who grew up in the Southeast, where Lonicera sempervirens is native, know about the sweet nectar inside the flower. When picked, they would suck on the base to enjoy nature's honey," says gardening expert Adrienne Roethling. Zones: 4 to 9Size: 3 to 20 feet tall x 3 to 20 feet wideCare requirements: Full sun; rich soil 03 of 08 Cardinal Flower Credit: Westend61 / Getty Images Like the birds that share the same name, cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis) are a brilliant red hue (a favorite shade of hummingbirds). "Tall stalks filled with vibrant red, tubular blooms produce copious amounts of nectar," says Renusch. The flowers have a long bloom season—from midsummer through early fall—which supports hummingbirds as they migrate south for the winter. Zones: 3 to 9Size: 2 to 4 feet tall x 1 to 2 feet wideCare requirements: Full sun to partial shade; moist clay to loamy soil 04 of 08 Bee Balm Credit: Getty / skhoward The tube-shaped purple, pink, and red blooms of bee balm (Monarda) provide a delicious snack for hummingbirds. "Hummingbirds can hover and quickly move from one floret to another within a single flower head, maximizing their nectar intake," says Renusch. "Bee balm attracts a variety of insects, providing a secondary food source for hummingbirds." She adds that hummingbirds eat small insects like gnats and aphids for protein, especially when nesting. Zones: 4 to 9 Size: 1 to 4 feet tall x 2 to 3 feet wideCare requirements: Full sun to partial shade; well-draining, medium to moist soil 05 of 08 Scarlet Sage Credit: Getty Images Scarlet sage (Salvia coccinea) draws hummingbirds with its eye-catching crimson, tubular blooms that are just the right shape for the birds' bills. "The extended blooming season—from spring until fall in warmer regions—provides a consistent source of nectar," says Renusch. Grow this heat-loving plant as an annual in cooler climates. Zones: 8 to 10Size: 12 to 36 inches tall x 6 to 24 inches wideCare requirements: Full sun to partial shade; moist, well-draining, sandy soil 06 of 08 Crossvine Credit: Getty Images The oversized, orange flowers of crossvine (Bignonia capreolata), which bloom from late winter through mid-spring, attract ruby-throated hummingbirds as they move north to meet warmer weather, says Roethling. "Crossvine is a native plant that grows well in the central to southeastern areas of the United States. This easy-to-grow vine will do well in sun, shade, native soils, and well-amended soils. More sun will give a better performance in flowers," she says. Zones: 5 to 9Size: 30 to 50 feet tall x 6 to 9 feet wideCare requirements: Full sun; rich soil 07 of 08 Trumpet Vine Credit: Getty Images Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans), often found in central and eastern regions of the U.S., blooms with showy flowers on vines that grow as long as 30 feet. "In early to mid summer, roadsides, power cuts, and thickets are covered in large, bright orange, trumpet-shaped blooms," says Roethling. "Flowers last for several weeks and will attract a fair number of hummingbird species." Zones: 4 to 10Size: 30 to 40 feet tall x 4 to 10 feet wideCare requirements: Full sun; rich soil 08 of 08 Passionflower Vine Getty Images. Passionflower vine (Passiflora incarnata) is the most common member of the passiflora genus in North America, says Roethling. It sends out green vines in mid-spring, followed by open-faced flowers with a mass of purple petals and large, creamy white flowers in mid-summer, Roethling says. The flowers attract multiple hummingbird species and also provide sweet fruit for gardeners. "One will notice egg-shaped pods that are edible when peeled open—the fruit is commonly made into jellies or jams," says Roethling. Zones: 5 to 9Size: 6 to 8 feet tall x 3 to 6 feet wideCare requirements: Full sun; rich soil Explore more: Garden