Attract Colorful Hummingbirds To The Garden With An Easy-To-Grow Flower They Love

Creating a hummingbird garden to ensure that the fascinating little birds visit your yard all season long doesn't have to be a difficult task if you choose the right plants. There are actually a wide variety of flowers that will easily attract hummingbirds to your garden. One great and easy-to-grow option that should be in more gardens is the cheerful cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum).

Cup plants are native to the Southeastern United States and boast charming daisy-like yellow flowers. Their name doesn't refer to their flowers though, but instead to the cup formed by their leaves. Not only do hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators adore the flowers, but songbirds also appreciate the seeds and often drink the water that collects in the plants' "cups". Cup plants are also a brilliant way to add more height to gardens, as they can often reach as tall as 8 feet and have a spread of around 3 feet.

Cup plants are a perennial in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 through 9, and they are surprisingly easy to grow. They can tolerate a wide range of soil types and textures as long as their growing medium isn't alkaline or overly dry. Cup plants require full to part sun and regular watering. Don't be too disappointed if cup plants you've grown from seeds don't bloom in the first year; as with many perennials, the plants often require two years before they begin to flower. To get around this, check out your local nursery to see if they sell these plants in pots.

With their towering height, cup plants are perfect pollinator flowers as long as you have the space for them. They can be prone to self-seeding, though, and can take over gardens if left to their own devices. So don't be afraid to thin out new seedlings. Placing shorter plants that attract hummingbirds in front of your cup plants is a great way to add dimension and multiple levels of interest. You could also add in some larger plants like a beauty bush, a flowering shrub that hummingbirds can't get enough of, to provide the garden with more structure and winter interest.