Some garden visitors arrive with muddy feet and big appetites (lookin’ at you, chickens). Others show up in a blur of color, sipping nectar like royalty and reminding you that the garden isn’t just yours, it’s part of a much bigger dance.
Enter: the hummingbird.
These pint-sized pollinators are nature’s glitter. They flit, they flash, they hum, and somehow they manage to make even weeding feel enchanted. If you’ve ever caught one hovering by a bloom, you know the feeling. Pure joy. Tiny winged joy.
🌸 Why Hummingbirds Love a Good Garden
Hummingbirds aren’t just looking for sugar water, they’re looking for real estate. Your garden can be the luxury resort they return to every year if you’ve got the goods:
Bright blooms in red, orange, pink, and purple
Tubular flowers that fit their long beaks just right
Safe perches to rest between sips
A pesticide-free buffet (because yes, they love tiny bugs too)
🌺 Plant These to Say “Come on In!”
Think of these as your VIP guest list for hummingbird season:
Plant and Why They Love It
Bee Balm Tubular + spicy scent = hummingbird magnet
Salvia Blooms forever and ever (and ever) +
Zinnias Bright colors = easy nectar access
Trumpet Vine Literally shaped like a welcome mat
Columbine Wild = whimsical, and irresistible
Honeysuckle Sweet scent = sweeter nectar
Coral Bells = perfect sipping cups
Lantana Multi-colored blooms on tap all day
Bonus: many of these are native plants, which means the hummingbirds and your local ecosystem win.
🧪 DIY Nectar (No Red Dye Needed!)
You don’t need fancy store mixes or neon-colored feeders. Here’s your magic formula:
1 part white sugar to 4 parts water.
Boil to dissolve. Cool. Pour into feeder. Clean every 3–5 days.
(That’s it. No food coloring, no fuss, just sweet sips.)
🌿 Garden Glow-Up Tips for More Hummingbird Visits
Stagger your blooms. Something should always be flowering.
Add a mister or shallow bird bath. Hummingbirds love a quick spritz!
Go vertical. Hanging baskets, trellises, and shrubs give them room to play.
Skip the chemicals. Pesticides kill the bugs they eat, and the vibe.
💫 Garden Journal Moment
This week, one zipped right up to my shoulder while I was deadheading flowers. For one brief second, we just… looked at each other. Like he knew I’d planted all of this with him in mind. (I did, Philip. I did.)
🌱 Final Thought
If bees are the gardeners, hummingbirds are the messengers. They remind us that beauty and function can share the same space. That speed and stillness aren’t opposites. And that joy? Sometimes it comes on wings the size of a paperclip.
Go plant something that hums.
You deserve a little magic! ✨
Yard 2 Yield! 