Fuschia Gartenmeister Bonstadt. You may need to take it in at night if temps go down below 50 degrees but they love it and it will bloom all summer. I overwintered mine inside up here in the northeast and I took cuttings a couple of weeks ago and now have 12 more plants to put out for them once it warms up.

Coral Honeysuckle Native perennial vine that will bloom most of the spring and summer

Salvia coccinea 'Lady in Red' would be an annual. It will reseed in your yard for future seasons

Salvia guaranitica 'Black & Blue' is a tender perennial but will bloom all summer

Aquilegia Canadesis (native Eastern Columbine) a hardy perennial that blooms in spring

Azaleas and Rhododendrons are both early spring bloomers that the hummers will utilize

Impatiens Wallerina plain old garden impatiens in hanging baskets are always available early

Snapdragons don't underestimate the power of those little 6 paks of annuals

Penny

I forgot about the snapdragons. I'll have to go get some. I did get some perrenials with a coupon that I'm starting to harden off for this next cool week coming up. Hopefully it will stay warm after that.

Well get ready as there is already a dot around Knoxvile, Tn. and North Carolina as of this morning.

Penny

For this area the coral honeysuckle blooms at almost the exact time that the Ruby-throats arrive. The azaleas bloom a little earlier. The Cross vine also bloomed at the right time and continues to bloom.

For us the red bottle brush and the ugly shrimp plant are blooming as is the lavender fire spike.

There are also a number of sages or salvias that are in bloom also, including the Lady in Red mentioned above.

Where would you guys suggest ordering salvia plants from? I have a hard time finding the exact ones I want here, I have such limited choices of whatever the nursery carries. Penny, thanks for the link for the coral honeysuckle. I'm waiting for it to come soon.

Wow, wow, wow. I just checked out the map and all I can say is WOW!!!! They are soooooooooo close. It is supposed to be a cold week though with only a couple days up to low 60's. Blech. I'm still going to put my feeder up NOW though. Sniff, there are so few flowers though. All I have blooming now is some phlox and dianthus. I have enough aphids though to feed about 100 families of them though.

I would suggest Coral Bells as a great late spring/early summer bloomer with VERY long lasting flowers that are eagerly sought by hummers.

Great perennial too and easy to grow in full sun or partial shade in average garden soil.

BN

birding nut,
Which coral bells if I may ask? Do you have the Latin name? Are you refering to Heuchera, a perrenial ,or an annual ?
Thanks
Pixie

hbwright
The following are excellent online sources for salvia plants
High Country Gardens.
Rich Dufresne's A World of Salvias is in N.C.
Yucca Do Nursery
Canyon Creek Nursery
Plants Delight Nursery

These are all reputable resources. Rich Dufresne is actually a salvia breeder and supplies salvias to many of the nurseries around the country including Yucca Do I believe.

Penny

Thank you. Now to finally enjoy spring. Funny how it turns spring and I wish we had February weather again.

HB
We don't want any more cold weather. It is still cold (mid 30's low 40's) here in the northeast

Penny

We had high 70's in February and now it is mid to high 40's. So much for spring. LOL.

Sorry, Pixie, took so long for me to write back. Yes, the Coral Bells I am referring to are in the genus Heuchera and are perennials.

BN

I made a list of plants I've noticed the hummingbirds here in Northern California like. Some of the plants are a bit frost tender, some will do fine in zone 8a (some areas of our Sunset zone 7 are USDA 8A). If the bloom time states winter, spring or all year, they may be suitable in your area. Tropicals/subtropicals bloom through the year in many cases. Some of the tropical Salvias bloom during the cool season, as does Citrus.

One of our earliest bloomers here (annuals and perennials) are lupines. I'm sure you can find other legumes that will bloom throug the winter (peas). Currants/Gooseberries bloom early in the spring. Many of the Columbines from colder areas will bloom early in the spring, but generally do not do well in long humid summers. Some penstemons also bloom early. Some of the Lavender hybrids appear to want to bloom all year.

Anyway, you will need to do a little research on the plants I've listed (If you are outside California or Oregon).

Hummingbird Plant List

birding nut
Thanks for the response. I was wondering if I could buy any red flowered Heuchera or is there a specific type that is better? I have many Heucheras but none with red flowers. There are some new fancy cultivars available, for example Hollywood, offered by Wayside. Since I have a credit there I would like to order this one if it will do the trick for the hummers. What do you think?
Pixie

Pixire,
The Heuchera that I have has red flowers. I don't know which one it is however as I bought it as a seedling a couple of years ago at a local nursery and it wasn't labled.

Penny

Mine is Heuchera x brizoides 'Firefly' and it also has red flowers.

Long season hummingbird plants? Try the Agastache hybrids. Those based on the species of southwest USA and northwest Mexico are everblooming in Colorado up and down the length of the Front Range (Fort Collins to Denver to Colorado Springs and south). They also do very well in California and are zone 5 hardy in Massachusetts and Ohio. They don't do so well in the subtropical southeastern USA, alas for me in North Carolina.

There are many new hybrids now besides Firebird, Pink Lemonade, Apricot Sunrise, Tutti Frutti, and the species like coccinea, rupestris, pallidiflora, cana, mexicana, and aurantiaca. Seedhunt sells seed of some, and they can be found from mail order houses.

Thanks for your input Rich.

It is nice to see you when you stop by.

Penny

Well I went to get some bare-root roses and I had no idea that hummer plants were so attracted to roses. I went to check out and I had 7 new plants mysteriously appear in my buggy. LOL. Finally sound some B&B salvia locally and 1.99 to boot. Now to decide on fuschia or impatience for the front door containers. Hum?

Great links Penny - thanks!

For me, my Salvia Greggii 'Caviar' is really blooming
and attracting hummers. Also Salvia Chiapensis,
Gartenmeister Fuchsia and Lavender Multifida.
They are even going for a Lantana that I have in
hanging basket!

How about the shrub Flowering Quince? It's Chaenomeles something--speciosa, I think, but there may be other related species. I don't speak from personal experience, but I've seen it listed on hummingbird plant lists. It is blooming here now in Zone 6, southwestern Pennsylvania, and my native red columbines aren't yet. That would fit the bill for an early bloomer.

A couple of days ago, I noticed a mass planting of these on a hillside beside a gas station, so it looks like they might be pretty tough, too. When no one was looking, I plucked a blossom off to test it for nectar, and the flower was just full of it! The flowers of these particular ones were sort of a coral pinkish red, and the 2-3 foot shrubs were just covered in blooms. I think they also can be found in white, but I suppose the hummers would prefer the reddish ones.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hummer Flower list with Chaenomeles

Hallson's nursery has a fabulous selection of coral bells at very resonable prices. Lots of other perennials and hostas too.
Also, I found that weigela shrubs and red buckeye trees attract many early hummingbirds. I have a real pretty weigela called wine and roses that has burgandy colored foliage and is compact at about 4 feet if I remember mature height. I keep it in a large pot and drag it out to where I keep the feeders hanging and it is like a light house beacon to traveling hummingbirds.
I underplant the shrub with petunias to keep up the interest the rest of the summer.

Flowerchild,
I grew a weigelia in a large container for 3 years before I put it in the ground. Mine stayed out all winter and it actually bloomed a little earlier when it was in a container as I watered it more frequently than I do now that it is in the ground.

Flowering quimce os am excellent early blooming shrub for hummers as is flowering currant. I think the currant is native to the PNW whereas the quince is more readily available east of the MIss.

Penny