5 Radiant Red Flowers That Hummingbirds Can't Resist!

Hummingbirds are such breathtaking creatures—you can't help but feel a burst of excitement when you catch a fleeting glimpse of those little winged beauties. Did you know that you can attract hummingbirds to your garden by planting their favorite flowers? As it turns out, they have their own preferences for color and shape, so if you plant their favorite kinds of flowers in your garden, your chances of spotting a hummingbird will be much higher. 

What Flowers Attract
Hummingbirds the Most?

First things first: hummingbirds love the color red—kind of like a raging bull charging towards a red flag, only much more gentle and delicate! Red flowers will grab their attention best, so if your goal is to attract as many hummingbirds as possible, stick to red-petaled blooms. They also don’t mind yellow and orange flowers, so if your favorite flower isn’t available in red, yellow and orange options will work just fine!

For shape, hummingbirds prefer tubular flowers—that is, flowers shaped like a champagne flute, with a deep, narrow reservoir for the birds to dip their slender beaks and sip the sweet nectar inside. These kinds of flowers often grow on tall stalks, making it easy for the birds to fly over and hover around the plant, sipping nectar from each bloom.

The Best Flowers That
Hummingbirds Like to Visit

The red color and tubular shape are the main criteria we're working with! Luckily, there are plenty of gorgeous flowers that fall within that category, and they're easy to grow here in California. Here are five favorites that you and the hummingbirds will both appreciate!

Red Salvia

Tall, wispy flower stalks boast fragrant, lance-shaped leaves and an impressive bloom time. While most salvia varieties, also called sages, are deep blue or purple, the red varieties are known for being especially popular among our hummingbird friends! Plant your salvia in full sun and deadhead the spent blooms regularly to promote continuous blooming all summer.

Red Canna Lilies

These stunning tropical flowers have large, high-impact blooms that emerge atop tall stems. They look fabulous in mixed containers as the "Thriller" plant, acting as a central focal point for the arrangement. Those fiery red blooms will rise from the garden like a beacon, drawing in hummingbirds from near and far!

Cannas are winter hardy in Orange County, so you can leave them in the garden over the winter. In cooler regions, you can cut back their foliage after it has died back, dig up the rhizomes and keep them in a cool, dry place before replanting them the following spring. 

Red Petunias

Yes, even this classic summer favorite is a perfect addition to a hummingbird garden! Perfect for hanging baskets and planters, these trailing annuals explode into bloom in summer, creating an ultra-vibrant, voluminous display. They're technically self-cleaning, so you don't need to deadhead them to encourage more blooms; however, it helps to tidy up the plant in midsummer if it's getting long and scraggly.

Butterfly Bush "Miss Ruby"

For a permanent landscape plant that keeps the hummingbirds coming back year after year, plant a ruby red Butterfly Bush! Their bloom clusters look quite similar to lilacs, but if you look closely, each tiny flower has that classic tubular shape that hummingbirds can't resist. These fragrant shrubs reach up to 4–12 feet tall at maturity, but if you'd like to keep them at a more manageable size, some pruning will do the trick.

Red Hibiscus

These showstopping tropical blooms always make a big splash in the landscape! A bright red hibiscus plant is hard to miss, and the local hummingbirds and other pretty pollinators will certainly take notice. Some hibiscus varieties are edible, so you can brew those pretty red petals into tasty iced teas! We love the way their golden-yellow stamens contrast against their rich, red blooms.

Discover even more hummingbird flowers in California by visiting Roger's Gardens! We have plenty of other gorgeous plants, hummingbird gardening kits, and nectar feeders to attract even more of those beautiful birds to your landscape.

Learn more about Hummingbirds by viewing our tutorial videos or exploring some of our other blogs.