This post is adapted from a Garden Harvest Supply blog post.

Now is the time of year at Innsbrook to begin thinking about what types of foliage you’d like included in your backyard oasis in 2014. Well, that depends on what your goal is. Color? Fragrance? Or perhaps what kind of wildlife you want to attract? If that’s the case, we can give you some tips on what hummingbirds are looking for.

Photo by Bob Wombacher

Hummingbirds love Innsbrook – and that’s because our property owners take such care in providing for them and giving them all their favorite things. If you’d like to attract hummingbirds to your property this year, here are some plants to look into. (There may be multiple varieties of these plants, so keep in mind that Innsbrook is in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 5 when doing your research on what varieties to buy.)

Photo by Innsbrook Staff

Bushes and Shrubs:

Lonicera (Honeysuckle) – deciduous vine, aromatic, blooms from spring through fall. Its fall berries attract migratory songbirds.

Weigela – highly adaptable, trumpet-shaped blossoms, fragrant with low pollen (ideal for allergy sufferers) and (now, this may be a pro or a con depending on who you are) deer resistant.

Flowers:

Agastache (Hummingbird Mint or Hyssop) – perennial in many climates; heat, drought, wind, and rain tolerant, deer repellant, and aromatic.

Photo by Patrick Standish

Lupinus (Lupine) – extremely adaptable, stunning planted en masse, popular for cutting gardens, fragrant, and colorful.

For continuous blooms throughout the entire growing season, plant a variety of bushes, shrubs, perennials, and annuals.

See the Garden Harvest Supply post for a month-by-month guide to what species will bloom when and for how long.*

Photo by Jason Paluck

*Note of heedfulness from Innsbrook Director of Horticulture Keith Thompson: if you plant Buddleia (Butterfly Bush) to attract hummingbirds, be sure to purchase/plant a variety with sterile flowers, as this particular plant can become invasive.

What do you do to keep your hummingbirds coming around to Innsbrook?