In my area (zone 5/6) I have found that red monarda is the best attractant
flower for hummers. We have an enormous beautifully labeled public perennial
garden at one of our parks (about 2 acres or so). During the growing season,
I visit it almost daily. During July and August, the hummingbirds will
bypass almost all other flowering plants which number in the hundreds of
species (including purple and pink monardas) in preference for the red -
also called bee balm. I'm sure that loniceras (honeysuckles) are also very
attractive to hummers, but they don't grow in that garden, so I haven't been
able to see the two flowers in competition. Monarda can be grown from seed,
but I'm not sure that it will flower the first year. I have heard that red
penstemons are also prime favorites - but they are not easy to grow in all
zones.
"Henry" wrote in message
...
I am looking for suggestions on flowers that I can start from seed for my
kid's garden that will do a good job of attracting Hummingbirds. I live in
Central NY and I know we have them here as we have seen them at a
neighbors
feeder and I think my kid would get a kick out of seeing them in his
garden. I have seen a number of flowers listed in catalogs that say they
will attract Hummingbirds but almost all are being sold as plants and
after
last years dismal experience of buying plants by mail I won't make that
mistake again. Strangely enough the last good experience I had with
ordering
flowering plants was from Michigan Bulb before they went under -guess I
was
one of the lucky ones with them. Of course I had the best experience with
Stark Bros. and Raintree Nurseries for apple tree and blueberry bushes but
they don't do flowers Any info on flowers and the sources for there seed
would be greatly appreciated as this would make an ideal addition since
his
garden is right next to our Butterfly Bush which lives up to it's name.
Also
any GOOD websites with info on this would be appreciated as I did searches
on Google and Lycos was not impressed.



Henry