These easy-to-grow annuals are filled with the sweet stuff hummingbirds and butterflies can’t resist.
1 Salvia
SALVI
Also commonly known as firecracker plant, this annual variety of salvia pops in any sunny garden, producing season-long color. Depending on the cultivar, this annual reaches 8 inches to 2 feet, though newer varieties are on the compact side.
Why we love it: Tons of nectar-rich tubular blooms cover the short or long stalks. Flowers may be red, orange, white, blue, pink or purple.
2 Impatiens
IMPATIENS
Invite winged creatures into your shady spaces with impatiens, which come in a rainbow of hues. Once planted, they don’t need much care.
Even deadheading isn’t necessary! Avoid downy mildew with disease resistant SunPatiens and New Guinea impatiens.
Why we love it: Reaching 6 inches to 2 feet high, it forms mounds, making it a good choice for borders and foundation beds, as well as containers.
3 Fuchsia
FUCHSIA
These showy, pendulous blooms in red, white, pink and purple will capture your heart. There are more than 100 kinds, from low-growing dwarfs and trailing plants to upright shrubs. Fertilize weekly for best results.
Why we love it: Fuchsia grows best in moist soil and partial shade, so it’s ideal for attracting hummingbirds to less-than-sunny yards.
4 Calibrachoa
CALIBRACHOA
Small petunia-like flowers steal the show all season, making fast-growing calibrachoa a hot choice for beds and containers—especially those that are geared toward hummingbirds and butterflies. Use it as a nicely textured filler plant or as a bold stand-alone. Plants reach about 8 inches tall and spread out.
This story is from the June/July 2018 edition of Birds & Bloom.
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This story is from the June/July 2018 edition of Birds & Bloom.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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Does a porcelain berry taste like a blueberry to a gray catbird? Does a block of lard smell like frying bacon to a northern flicker? The short answer is no. While some avian species do have a well-adapted sense of taste or smell, they can't distinguish between flavors and odors the way humans can. They're not picking up every ingredient in the suet you put out, says José Ramírez-Garofalo, an ornithology researcher at Rutgers University in New Jersey and the director of Freshkills Biological Station in Staten Island, New York.
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