Hello to Hummingbirds

More of a high-speed rumble than a buzz, accompanied by a vibration, but at a volume that makes you think it’s in your head. That’s what it’s like when a hummingbird flies past your ear. A hybrid honk-squeak, emitted after coming to a mid-air halt is their signal they’ve found something worthy of closer inspection.

John James Audubon called the ruby-throated hummingbird—the most commonly seen in the Midwest—“the curious florist,” an apt name owing to their habit of visiting each flower for a close look and a sip of nectar. Audubon has a program called Celebrate Hummingbirds that includes tools to help citizen scientists keep track of hummingbird sightings and nectar source data.

Hummingbirds are one of the best reasons for gardening. My garden is home to a pair that comes back every year. I’ve named them Chuckles and Snarky (collectively: the chuckleheads) because they make a chuckling sound and get cranky whenever I get my camera out. I’d never seen a hummingbird perch before, but my garden is traversed across the back by a high electric cable. One at a time, Chuckles or Snarky will sit there, staring at the spot where I always have a big patch of beebalm (Monarda), as if willing it to bloom.

Attracting Hungry Hummingbirds

But before the beebalm blooms, hummingbirds have to have other sources of nectar. The ruby-throats arrive from early to mid-April in most of the Midwest. And they’re hungry. In April, Chuckles and Snarky feast on lungwort (Pulmonaria), coral bells (Heuchera), columbine, and bleeding heart. Flowering quince (Chaenomeles) and Weigela are two hardy shrubs that bloom extra early, and are usually red, orange or deep pink—colors that attract hummingbirds.

If there is a plant that gets the chuckleheads excited, it is decorative sage (Salvia). There are dozens of varieties, colors and sizes, but I see a lot more activity with a few key cultivars.

Caring For Salvia

Salvia darcyi x S. microphylla ‘PWIN03S’, Windwalker® Royal Red Salvia has been given the thumbs up by Plant Select, a Colorado-based nonprofit consortium that focuses on promoting tough plants for low-water gardens. One of its benefits is earlier bloom—June instead of August—but it would of course depend on when you plant it. I bought two plants from Groovy Plants Ranch in Marengo, OH, and they’re bulking up nicely. It’s hard to make yourself do it, but after I planted them last month I pinched them back by half to encourage more branches and more blooms. “I suggest growing this plant as dry and hot and sunny as possible – keeps it more compact,” says Pat Hayward, Executive Director of Plant Select. “They tend to get a bit floppy as they get older and taller, so I like to mix it in with shrubs and other larger plants. It’s really stunning in full bloom.”

Salvia ‘Windwalker’ is reportedly hardy to Zone 5. However, Salvias that claim hardiness often go the way of Agastache, another westerner that has less than a 50/50 chance of returning after a typical Midwestern winter. Like the old adage, “it’s not the heat; it’s the humidity,” the reason for their demise can be explained, “it’s not the cold (temperatures); it’s the wet (soil).”

When to Plant

There is still time to plant some Salvia; the big types don’t bloom until mid-July, but they’ll keep going strong through part of October. If you can’t find them locally, Flowers by the Sea has more varieties than you’ll ever have time to grow.

Aside from Salvia, there is a good chance you’re already growing plants that are attractive to hummingbirds. And although the tiny birds like red, that’s just the tip of the varietal iceberg. Audubon offers a list of nectar sources for the east and Midwest to help you get started.

Here is a list Salvias that have attracted hummingbirds to my garden.

1. Salvia ‘Amistad’ (Friendship Sage): Discovered in 2005 in Argentina, this unique hybrid sage has only recently become available. It doesn’t matter that this beefy plant has dark blue flowers. I couldn’t look out the window without seeing the Chuckheads sipping nectar from its flowers. This plant is huge, growing around four feet tall and five feet wide.
2. Salvia ‘Wendy’s Wish’ grows about 3 to 4 feet tall and nearly as wide. Above the foliage, unique tubular flowers with fluted tips arise in mid-summer and continue until frost. The plant is named for the Australian gardener who discovered it, and the fact that she wishes a portion of the proceeds from this plant go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
3. Salvia ‘Love and Wishes’ is a hybrid from Wendy’s Wish, with flowers of deep purple and magenta. Hybridizer John Fisher of Orange, Australia, decided that it should benefit Australia’s Make-a-Wish Foundation similar to its parent plant.
4. Salvia coccinnea is one of the most underrated plants for the garden. It’s simple to start from seed, grows quickly, has a nice fragrance, and blooms its head off until frost knocks it down. Its individual flowers are tiny but mighty as nectar sources for hummingbirds. My favorite is called ‘Coral Nymph’, which looks great planted with any color of Zinnia, which also are attractive to hummingbirds.
5. Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans): Who hasn’t grown this pretty plant with bright red flowers in fall. This is a variety that requires patience on the part of the gardener, who can enjoy it for its fragrant leaves until it sprouts flowers in the fall. I think of it as a sign of the great send-off—when the Chuckleheads and their out of town visitors need to fuel up for their journey southward for the winter.

Sources:

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Macaulay Library has a database of bird species with photos, videos and audio files. It’s not only fun to look through, it will help identify different species and tell the difference between male and female hummingbirds (among others). For your smartphone, Audubon offers a smartphone version of the Audubon Bird Guide.