Plant a Hummingbird Garden for Summer!

Hummingbirds are a delightful addition to any garden!

It's not difficult to create a garden that will attract hummingbirds, but if you'd like to build a habitat in which they will happily nest and live, you need to provide them with more than just a sugar-water feeder. Red flowers are well-known for attracting hummingbirds, but you are not limited to flowers of this color alone.

You can encourage hummingbirds to visit your own garden by planting one or more of the following:

Tips and tricks for Success:

• Choose plants that flower at different times during the blooming season to provide food for them throughout spring, summer and fall.

• Unlike larger birds, hummingbirds will seldom take advantage of a bird bath or bowl of water. Instead, they relish cool mists. A garden hose with a misting attachment or a small fountain that can be adjusted to a fine mist will keep them happy.

• Hummingbirds need shelter from predators, plus small branches for perching and resting. By choosing a few taller bushes or trees, you can provide both.

• Choose feeders with bright red accents, and a capacity for about 8 ounces of sugar water. Instead of using one large feeder, place 2-4 of them around your garden, out of sight of each other if possible. Hummingbirds are notoriously territorial. By providing several 'private‘ feeding stations, you'll increase the number of hummingbirds that you attract.

• Hummingbird feeders should be filled with a solution of one part table sugar to four parts water, brought to a boil and then cooled and stored in the refrigerator for future use.