Plants for Hummingbirds
Showing 65–72 of 88 results
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Platycodon grandiflorus Balloon flower Z 4-9
Balloon shaped buds opening to blue bells
Balloon shaped buds opening to blue bells from July through September, deadhead to prolong bloom.
Size: 24" x 12"
Care: Full sun to part shade in moist well-drained to well-drained soil
Native: Eastern Asia
Wildlife Value: attracts butterflies, bees & hummingbirdsPlatycodon is Greek from platys meaning “broad” and kodon meaning “bell”, referring to the shape of the flower. Cultivated in China for hundreds of years where it is called Jie-geng. The Chinese used the root boiled to cure a chill in the stomach. Mentioned in Man’yoshu, a Japanese anthology of poems written in the 8th century. German botanist Johann Gmelin first discovered P. grandiflorus in Siberia in 1754. Gmelin’s Siberian mission, sponsored by Catherine the Great, took 10 years and nearly killed him. Gmelin introduced it to European garden cultivation by 1782. Cultivated in the U.S. since the 1800’s. Received England’s Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit.
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Polygonatum falcatum var. variegatum Variegated Solomon seal
Solomon seal with white margined leaves, white dangling bells
Medium sized, arching Solomon seal with white margined leaves, white dangling bells in spring.
Size: 20" x 4' slow spreader
Care: moist to moist well-drained soil in shade to part shade. Immune Walnut toxins.
Native: Japan
Wildlife Value: attracts hummingbirds
Awards: Elisabeth Cary Miller botanic Garden Great Plant Pick Award and Perennial Plant Association 2013 Perennial Plant of the Year.1st identified by Japanese botanist & scholar Takenoshin Nakai (1882-1952) in Botany Magazine of Tokyo 1924. Introduced to American gardens in 1937.
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Polygonatum multiflorum Solomon’s seal Z 4-10
Dainty white flowers dangle from arching stems
Dainty white flowers dangle from arching stems in June followed by black fruit, the leaves “make a fine mass of elegant foliage,” Sanders, 1913.
Size: 3' x 10"
Care: shade in moist well-drained to well-drained soil Drought tolerant. Immune to Walnut toxins.
Native: Europe and Asia
Wildlife Value: attracts hummingbirdsDioscorides named Polygonatum in the 1st century, which means “many jointed” referring to scars on the rhizome. Medieval herbalists opined that Biblical figure Solomon put scars on the rhizome to demonstrate the plant’s curative powers. P. multiflorum cultivated in English gardens by 1450. In 1596 English herbalist Gerard endorsed its use to repair broken bones – mix the pulverized root and drink it with ale to “gleweth together the bones in very short space.” He also claimed fresh stamped root of Polygonatum would cure cuts and bruises for “women’s willfulness in stumbling on their hasty husband’s fists.” According to Culpepper Italian wives “much used” this remedy.
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Polygonum virginianum syn. Persicaria virginiana Jumpseed Z 4-8
Arresting tiny white flowers atop nearly leafless stems blooming late summer into fall; dark green foliage marked with a maroon chevron on each leaf
Arresting tiny white flowers atop nearly leafless stems blooming late summer into fall;
dark green foliage marked with a maroon chevron on each leafSize: 2-3’ x 3-4’
Care: shade to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: All eastern areas from central Canada south to Texas, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: attracts birds, bees & butterflies, Deer resistant
Size: Cherokee made a hot infusion of leaves with the bark of a Honey Locust to treat whooping cough.Linnaeus 1753.
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Ribes aureum syn. Ribes odoratum Clove currant Z 3-8
yellow flowers smother the shrub
Early to mid-spring yellow flowers smother the shrub, giving off the most sweet, clove-scented fragrance – heavenly.
Size: 6' x 6'
Care: full sun in moist well-drained to well-drained soil. Immune to Walnut toxins.
Native: west-central US
Wildlife Value: attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.Found by Meriwether Lewis in 2 locations -“near the narrows of the Columbia.” April 16, 1806, now Klickitat County, Washington, and on July 29, 1805 in Montana. Many different tribes ate the berries – Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Klamath, Montana, Paiute & Ute. Others, Shoshone and Paiute, used the shrub’s inner bark to heal sores and swellings. English plantsman Wm. Robinson declared that it “deserves to be more commonly grown.” (1933)
**LISTED AS OUT OF STOCK BECAUSE WE DO NOT SHIP THIS ITEM. IT IS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT OUR RETAIL LOCATION.
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Salvia amplexicaulis Stem-clasping sage Z 3-8
Deep violet spike flowers in summer over green foliage
Deep violet spike flowers in summer over green foliage
Size: 24-30” x 36”
Care: Sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil
Native: Southeastern Europe
Wildlife Value: attracts bees, butterflies and other pollinatorsSimilar to Salvia nemorosa but larger.
Before 1829, Lamarck. -
Salvia verticillata Lilac sage, whorley clary, Salbey Z 5-8
Muted lilac blue spikes June to October
Muted lilac blue spikes June to October. It took 2 years to establish this plant to maturity during which time it was unimpressive but in year 3, it’s fabulous. You get the benefit of mature plants.
Size: 24” x 18-24”
Care: sun in moist well-drained to well-drained soil. Dead head to prolong bloom
Native: Spain to Ukraine, Caucasus to Iran
Wildlife Value: Butterfly magnet.Collected before 1753.
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Sambucus canadensis syn. Sambucus nigra var. canadensis. Elderberry, American elderberry Z 3-9
In late spring to mid-summer lavish, fragrant flat-to dome-shaped clusters of flowers bloom above this arching, multi-stemmed shrub. Late summer into fall the multitude of flowers turn into purple-black, edible fruits, up to 2000 per cluster!
In late spring to mid-summer lavish, fragrant flat-to dome-shaped clusters of flowers bloom above this arching, multi-stemmed shrub. Late summer into fall the multitude of flowers turn into purple-black, edible fruits, up to 2000 per cluster!
Size: 5-12’ x spreading quickly by suckers 5-10’ Best to grow as hedge, along a roadside, fence-line or forest edge, not within garden. It can form thickets.
Care: sun to part shade in moist to well-drained soil
Native: Americas east of Rocky Mountains south to Bolivia. Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: branches and leaves make nesting sites and give cover for birds. It is a source of pollen for numerous bees and other insects. Many birds (including, Pheasant, Bluebird, Cedar waxwing, Cardinal, Mockingbird and others) as well as some mammals eat the sweet, but slightly bitter, fruit.Collected before 1735. Native Americans made extensive use of this, Cherokee used it topically for boils, burn and infections and internally for rheumatism, fevers, a diuretic, dropsy, and of course ate the berries. Costanoan made its hollow twigs into pipes, flutes and shafts for arrows. Several Natives infused the flowers and foliage with hot water to make steam baths. And many natives ate it, boiled it, jammed it, and added the fruit to cakes. Today people eat them in jellies, jams, pancakes, pies and wine and make homeopathic medicine from it.
