eta : a thrill to see this beautiful hummer

Sorry quality is poor I really had to zoom in

I'm in coastal Southern California, so I'm not familiar with Murrieta's climate. However, abutilon is supposed to do fine in zone 9 with morning sun and afternoon shade.

Abutilons come in different shapes and sizes, so check with your local nursery for the one that best suits your space.

Abutilon information: https://www.gardenista.com/posts/gardening-101-abutilons/

Oh thank you Nancy ! I have noticed those around , I’ll take a closer look next time . I didn’t know they attrac hummers ! I love the soft coral colorde one

He's a beauty! Thanks for sharing the photo.

I mostly have Anna's and 1 Allen's right now with a very territorial Rufous during spring migration.

Pick up a Western Garden Book at any bookstore or online or your local library should have one to browse.

I have bush germanders teucrium fruticana Azureum in for the hummers and bees love them also. They are in purple and sometimes seem iridescent with gray foliage which mostly blooms late winter/spring . I also have cape honeysuckle in orange which is blooming now in winter. Cape Honeysuckle can get huge, I trim it to 3 feet at least twice a year. It would hide the fence, but the fence isn't ugly at all. For summer should be enough sun for salvia greggii also known as autumn sage. Any sage or salvia they will enjoy. Another they like is bottlebrush. There is a variety known as Little John can get 5 feet tall and wide and blooms in red. Woodpeckers and orioles are also attracted to them.

I have all these planted and some only get 4 hours of sun and still bloom and all are drought tolerant.

Nice to visit for ideas:

San Diego botanical gardens

Rancho Santa Ana Botanical gardens

Myrtle Creek Botanical Gardens

All the wineries are beautifully landscaped in the Temecula area to visit also.

Many Perennial Salvia should be happy there and will bloom in Fall and Winter as well. I like Purple Salvia "Amistad" ...

I have never seen a hummers or bees on my Abutilon, but it’s one the few plants that will grow in my spot with 6 hours morning sun in summer and 1 hour morning sun in winter. The other plants that grow there are heliotrope, which bees love, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, a ground cover with true blue flowers and Juncus patens, an evergreen rush that has wonderful contrasting texture against the other plants there. Golden oregano also grows in the front of that bed with one hour more sun both summer and winter.

Also check out Love and Wishes salvia with burgundy flowers and the closely related Wendy’s Wish with pink flowers. L&W is in full bloom in my garden today. I trimmed it back in October and gave it a shot of Miracle Grow as my soil has little Nitrogen and it looks fabulous right now. They like at least 6 hours of sun but not a baking hot spot in the yard. So it October they were looking pretty ratty, but now they are lush. Hummers adore them!

Love and Wishes

You are probably Sunset zone 18 or 19, I think. Grevillea 'Robin Gordon', or some of the others, would probably have a long bloom period. In my garden it was never out of bloom throughout the year. They aren't fragrant though. Sadly, I had to remove mine because I have a bad reaction to getting poked by the foliage.

Your Costa's hummingbird is a beauty!

My best plant for hummingbirds is iochroma cyanea, but that plant might overwhelm your space.

Abutilon has been consistent in attracting hummingbirds; I have one that's grown into a small tree.

Also dependable is justicia carnea.

I would second iochroma, the hummers go mad for mine. They take heavy pruning if you don't want them tall.
http://www.anniesannuals.com/search/?q=iochroma

I also have several colors of abutilon, they will visit those and mine are in mostly shade.

My Limelight salvia had two hummers fighting this morning, but that is a plant that ate my garden (10 feet by 10 feet at last count) Another mexican salvia would be a smaller choice

https://www.fbts.com/mexican-salvias/

Carla in Sac

My abutilon are covered with hummingbirds 12 mo of the year.

Pineapple sage attracts hummingbirds and can grow in partial shade. Mine is in the shade of an orange tree. They also like salvia chiapensis. Both plants are low water. https://www.cnps.org/gardening/hummingbird-gardening-5098

Thank you fantastic garden neighbors!! I am so excited to learn these new plants. Happily a lot of these were suggested when I went to Armstrong’s yesterday. I was able to buy a “Victorian lady abutilon” on sale . Now the stems are thin and they have it staked like a tree. Is this how to carry on with the plant or do I release them and let them grow naturally?

I did see the silver grey germander , it was so beautiful. Should have gotten one! I am ordering the Iochroma from Annie’s , I have a friend who grows one and it’s so gorgeous. I don’t care if it takes over lol

and yay ! I already have amistad and Wendy’s wish salvia . They are doing so well this time of year . There are so many beautiful plants suggested . I wish I had a bigger yard !

Do rose of Sharon grow well here? Haven’t noticed them around but remember them being loved.

Is there a honeysuckle that dosnt get mildew here? My fav was always the gold flame one , but at Armstrong’s all of them had powdery mildew on them .

I thank you all for your time and input!! I am trying to keep the hummers happy here . I really miss all my birds from Tennessee (cardinals blue jays bluebirds etc ) and in my little yard now I only have finches , Hummers and one sweet little Phoebe that comes to take a bath. So I want to enjoy them the best I can!

A copy of the Sunset Western Garden book will be a big help to you in helping you get acquainted with what grows well in your area. If you don't want to buy one, most public libraries have them. California has so many climate zones it can be a big help. Riverside Master Gardeners can also be of help. UC Master Gardeners of Riverside County We don't have an official drought currently, but we get a lot less water than many other parts of the US.

Lilyfinch, we're in SoCal close to Pasadena. When I saw the title of your post my first thought was Abutilon. We've had several over the years that attracted lots of hummers.

You asked about Rose of Sharon. We had a beautiful one at our previous home here. We also had a Cape Honeysuckle that was extremely aggressive with no mildew. It was in full sun most of the day.

We had a row of orange cape honeysuckle for many years that got only a shot or two of supplemental water from the hose each summer. So it’s very drought tolerant. And lots of hummingbirds on it! They don’t have fragrance though. There is a yellow version that would work better with the pastels in your garden.
https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/87075/#b

Cape honeysuckle, Tecoma capensis, is a completely different plant from any Lonicera type honeysuckle Lilyfinch might be more familiar with. Still very attractive to hummers though.

Cape honeysuckle grows easily almost anywhere, but if you don't prune enough, it will grow to be a giant. I have one in a side yard that I'm having removed after 25 years because it got too big for me to maintain and the lower branches rooted and started new shrubs. Hummingbirds like it. They stay near the top because the lower part of the shrub is mainly branches from lack of sunlight. All the green growth and flowers are higher where the plant gets more sun.

The best plant I've had for hummingbirds is Campsis radicans, and I had a purple one in Venice that bloomed all year. It can be invasive and requires a lot of pruning, however, and so I do not have one now, although I've seen it growing in my neighborhood is west Los Angeles near the beach. I keep a hummingbird feeder, but I also have a lot of bromeliads that bloom in the winter, and the hummingbirds like those.

The first plant that comes to my mind for hummingbirds & morning sun, afternoon shade is Gambelia speciosa (used to be called Galvezia speciosa), island snapdragon. Also Savia spathacea, hummingbird sage. Hummingbirds in our yard are wild over both these red-flowering plants.

we have hummingbirds daily in both front and back yards where our red salvia gets only part sun/shade and the birds are on them every day.

Salvia Guaranitica (Black and Blue, Argentine Skies, Blue Ensign, Wishes series, Amistad) also Cuphea (David Verity, Vermillionaire) are my 2 best up here on the North East.

Yes to the above suggestions and also to all the wonderful coral bells kinds. I like salvia lady in red. It never stops. Cut some back, let others grow. You'll have a continuous supply of flowers. Salvia coccinia I think.

Lady in red was an all America selection. It has more flowers than most and will not stop blooming. Easy to find the seeds. There are many pretty colors of salvia coccinea you can get from seed. If you make the upper areas of the soil sandy, there will be many new plants. You won't have to sow them. They will do it themselves.

How wonderful to return to

many more answers! I’m so happy to have a great list to choose from now. I

like the suggestion to cut them back just a few at a time . That’s a great idea! I’m dying to get my hands on an iochroma too . I hope this week to look around locally if the kiddos don’t complain too much ;)

Kitty , so happy to see you posting again!! I saw you over in roses too. ;)

Hi Lilyfinch.... I normally see you over in the rose forum. Though I have had a couple of hummingbirds so I caught you over here as I was lurking........ :) My hummingbird seems to like pink and red salvia..... I have more pink because more of it came up and it reseeds pretty easy. I also have 3 red tall pentas that I saw them visiting..... and they also seem to like my celosia.... my neighbor has a firebush..... don't know if it grows there but the humming birds swarm it.....

I am coming late to you question here.... and of course I am in a different zone..... and you may have already installed your plants for hummingbirds..... make sure you post pictures...... and I hope you put in a couple of zinnias too

Hi Sharon !! Thank you for your suggestions! I have pentas that need trimmed back for spring . I love this pink salvia I bought , I forgot to take a pic but it’s so cute and bloomed all summer for me . I have some blue ones too and amistad salvia has been fantastic!! I don’t know what a fire bush is ..

well I feel very blessed to have managed to keep hummers here all winter despite neighbors saying theirs disappear for the winter ! I have recently added a pink ablution and yellow . I have room for one more , I really love the flowers . If I was a child I would surely be making a doll skirt from the flowers! Lol I ordered some plants from Annie’s too that a geared toward hummers ,: nicotiana , Piemont salvia , Alstroemeria ( this will be my 4th! They love these it seems !) and a campanula .

I can’t wait to get excellent pics for y’all . I just need to find my tripod ! Here’s a few .

Does anyone know , what do I do with this ? Let it grow with the support? Release it ? I haven’t seen one in real life to know .

It will need some support, but the stems are bunched together to prevent it from sprawling in the nursery. Remove the green ties and provide the support for the stems further apart. Prune it once in a while to encourage it to be more bushy.

Once it gets large enough, it shouldn’t need support. They have quite a few at Descanso Gardens in the shade of oaks that are 4-5 foot tall self supporting shrubs.

Lily
Flowering Maples are one of the plants I collect, and I started because they are a shade plant here, and my garden is so crammed in at this point so there's a lot of shade.
My point being yours might be getting too much sun in that spot come summer, fyi. I use colorful large tomato cages to support mine, but the tallest ones (10 feet +/-) start to bend over.

Carla in Sac

Carla would you please share photos ! I would love to see . I have fallen for these plants hard . I don’t know why , but they just scream “collect me!!! ).

I hope my Poseidon rose shades the pink one . My yellow is literally underneath an apple and avocado tree lol . Do you just buy yours locally or have you found a website that sells them ?

Hi Lily
As with most of my plants, my garden happens by walking through the nursery and thinking "How cute!" ;)
There's very little planning LOL
The first 4 are named, the rest I can't remember.
Tallest is the pink double Victorian Lady
Watermelon isn't quite open
Tiger Eye is yellow background striped, Indian is red striped.

The unnamed ones, red, mango, orange, etc

As you can see, I missed the window for dormant pruning here at Cram 'Em In Acres :)
Victorian Lady is at the top of the photo (sorry about the blurry close up) intertwined with my Pakistan mulberry, and roses Liv Tyler, Sterling Silver, and Evelyn. Red Baron peach is in the background
Carla in Sac

Carla , thank you so much !! Boy do I love that last one , what a pretty color . The watermelon one is beautiful! I had bought one labeled Victorian lady but it was mislabeled and is the solid pink .

I would love to find that last one locally. Fingers crossed!!! I wonder how cold hardy they are. I never ever noticed these plants in Tennessee.

I'd be happy to send you cuttings, pm me
Carla

Watermelon opened today
Carla in Sac

Lilyfinch, we need some update pics on your hummer garden.... your pics always inspire me here and on the rose forum

So nice, Lilyfinch! Just love abutilon. We also get a lot of hummers with our agapanthus.

For the ultimate hummer paradise, add a big glossy leafed plant and sprinkle it with water in the middle of the day. Hummers love their baths.

Lilyfinch, I was wondering if you have an update on this area of your garden? What plants have you found that love it here? My front garden bed is also in SoCal and is full sun until 1pm in summer (less sun in winter) and I am looking for more ideas. So far, heliotrope, daffodils, ornamental mini grass clumps (Sesleria 'Greenlee Hybrid' ), star jasmine (just to hide the sprinkler system pipes) and evening primrose grow well. I would have thought clematis would love it here, but I haven’t had much luck as it gets blasted by morning heat in summer and completely died back in that weird late triple digit heatwave we had last fall. But, I just noticed a tiny sprout last week so maybe it’s not a complete goner yet. I lost a rose (Reve d’Or) in that same heatwave planted in this same area. Maybe too much shade for roses so it wasn’t vigorous enough, which made it vulnerable? I just removed James Galway from this bed because the entire year last year it gave only 11 roses in spring. Then it just sat there with it’s nice green leaves (no diseases) and zero new growth. Abutilon and Hydrangea have both failed here due to intense morning direct sun. I think they want dappled shade. I am struggling with both shade plants and full sun plants here.

Hi Stephanie!! I have to thank you for always giving me such great advice here and on Instagram. It’s really helped me become comfortable in this new zone .

Well , my pink abutilon still does very well and it never stops blooming so I never cut it back 🫣. The hummers live nearby and I feel like they love it so I won’t .

I grow a lot of clematis here , and for me , when they are babies they do sometimes protest and die back . But the roots keep growing and they will return and show off eventually! I have a few that bloom amazingly in that sun position .. Margaret hunt , bonanza , and Emilia plater .

My blush noisette rose is in just about all shade next to the house . It has grown and blooms for most of the summer , and very lush in my opinion given the shade . I bet she’d love more sun like you have !

I also have James Galway in that area but he’s 3 years old this year and was moved last year so I’m not sure yet how he will do . I don’t want to remove him tho ( mainly bc I have no place to put him and I’m not sure he’s easy to find so I want to keep him for safekeeping even if he’s not happy)

Not in this exact bed but on the other side of the fence you see I had a potted mandevilla and it was just fine happily blooming in those conditions. Same with a blue plumbago ..

it sure is a learning curve and so interesting to me that what does well for me may not for you and vice versa !

My mystic spires salvia ( can’t get enough of it ! ) takes shade well too !

How about that yesterday today and tomorrow plant ? Mine was fine until I really neglected the watering 😩..

well I’m probably not that much help but that’s what I have ..

I had planted a lot of other plants in that area but our neighbors decided to set up a turtle breeding tank system and would absolutely flood our yard and that area when they cleaned their tanks . The area dosnt drain well enough for heavy water so a whole batch of Annie’s annuals order drowned . It’s too bad bc I had high hopes for them.

About abutilon .. do you know if they heavy prune the ones at descano ? I wonder if I should anyway but I hate to rob the hummers .

Lily

I have the same angst about pruning abutilons as you! The Hummers love them and they're still blooming so it's hard. Unfortunately my tallest one is now almost 15 feet!

I will say 2 years ago I cut them to the ground, so if you do want to hard prune them they will come back.

Carla in Sac

Hi Carla !

Thank you ! I did actually have to cut mine down two November’s ago and it really wasn’t long before it bloomed again . Our neighbors Home actually caught fire and the firemen destroyed a lot of plants putting their ladders up there . It was back to its Normal size by mid summer ! I really love this plant so much . I wonder if it will bloom better if pruned ?

Maybe if I had another pink one I could alternate pruning them . I definitely way over think about those hummers ! 😊

Lilyfinch, I love how well you adapted to gardening in our dry climate. That’s some bad luck with turtle water and firemen in your garden! Hard to plan for that! I also forgot that I have blue plumbago is that bed and it does great too! But I feel like the soil in that bed is somewhat problematic. It’s basically sand and I am guessing it’s not getting enough water. The spot where the Abutilon died has subsequently failed two Heliotrope attempts (I double checked, the dipper is working) and I already have two Heliotropes in that bed so it’s frustrating. Last weekend after seeing the wee clematis sprout, I dug down and found the main drip line and added a second dripper and amended with some organic fertilizer as well. I have visions of a large clematis climbing up the porch post, but the reality is not matching my vision. James Galway is such a special rose so he’s now bareroot in a bucket waiting for this storm to pass so I can send him to my sister in Seattle. I think it will really love her climate. This own root JG from Heirloom has interesting fibrous roots that took a lot of rinsing to get all the dirt out. I put Life of the Party there instead as it’s grafted onto Dr. Huey (probably better roots for this spot) and LotP is known to be a heat lover.

I totally get pruning for the hummingbirds! I tend to alternate the salvia cutbacks so there is always a few in bloom. I think I mentioned once that I have ‘Wendy’s Wish’ (pink), but it’s actually the sister release ‘Love and Wishes’ (burgundy) that I have almost a dozen clumps of around the backyard. Second year with a hummer nest in our Camellia! She is bravely weathering this storm sitting on her two eggs. She built the nest lower this year and in direct sight from bathroom window so I can keep an eye on her this year. I got this picture a few days ago and checked yesterday and still not hatched.