A Visit (or Two) to New York Botanical Garden

World-class is an overused term, but it is not an exaggeration when describing what I consider to be the finest public garden in the United States: New York Botanical Garden.  In my two decades of visiting NYBG, I have seen it change its focus somewhat to become more ecologically attuned, as befits any modern botanical garden, but it has not lost its charm no matter what the season. And 2016 marks its 125th anniversary, a milestone to celebrate. So let’s celebrate with a photo  tour of some of the gardens on its 250 acres (100 hectares). Whenever I visit (via the Metro North Railroad from Grand Central Station, Botanical Garden stop), I head immediately to the Seasonal Border, designed by Dutch plantsman Piet Oudolf.  When i visited this August, I noticed a new sign dedicating the garden to Marjorie G. Rosen, who chairs the Horticulture Committee and is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors.

NYBG-Seasonal Border-August 2016

I love this border in all seasonal guises, for its inspiration for those thinking about making a naturalistic meadow-style planting. Here it is, below, in July 2011 with ‘Green Jewel’ coneflowers (Echinacea) front and centre.

NYBG-Seasonal Border-July 2011

I was especially fond of this combination of Lilium henryi and Scutellaria incana.

NYBG-Seasonal Border-Lilium henry & Scutellaria incana

This is how it looked in spring 2012. The bulb plantings were designed by Jacqueline van der Kloet.

NYBG-Seasonal Border-Spring 2012

They’ve even gone to the trouble of making a sign showing Piet Oudolf’s hand-painted plan for the garden.

NYBG-Piet Oudolf Seasonal Border Plan

It’s a short walk from the Seasonal Border to the Jane Watson Irwin Perennial Garden. This is what it looked like in August.

NYBG-Jane Watson Irwin Perennial Garden-August 2016

I loved these combinations: Colocasia esculenta ‘Blue Hawaii’ with zingy Gomphrena globosa ‘Strawberry Fields’….

NYBG-Salvia-Gomphrena-Colocasia-Perennial Garden

… and a more romantic look with Salvia guaranitica and a lovely pink rose.

NYBG-Jane Watson Irwin Perennial Garden-Rose & Salvia guaranitica

I spent a lot of time watching butterflies and bees nectaring on Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana’, a late summer mainstay at NYBG.

NYBG-Black Swallowtail on Phlox paniculata 'Jeana'

This garden also offers lots of design ideas, whether you visit in spring (this was 2012)….

NYBG-Jane Watson Irwin Perennial Garden-Spring

…. or summer (2011).  If you sit on this bench with that gorgeous lily within sniff range, you’ll understand why designers recommend planting perfumed plants where you’re going to be walking or sitting.

NYBG-Jane Watson Irwin Perennial Garden-July 2011

I love the use of gold/chartreuse foliage in this part of the perennial garden.

NYBG-Jane Watson Irwin Perennial Garden-Chartreuse

The Jane Watson Irwin Perennial Garden and the adjacent Ladies’ Border were designed by New York’s champion of public gardens, the venerable Lynden Miller, below, right. When I was there in 2012, she and NYBG’s vice-president of outdoor gardens, Kristin Schleiter…..

NYBG- Kristin Schleiter & Lynden Miller-Spring 2012

…. conducted a tour of NYBG’s then brand-new Azalea Garden, below, with azalaes and rhododendrons arranged throughout the garden’s natural rock outcrops and underplanted with natives like white foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia). If you visit in late April or  May, this part of the garden is a must-see!

NYBG-Azaleas & Tiarella

I loved this spectacular pink cloud of azaleas!

NYBG-Azalea Garden

Speaking of spring, it was sometime in the late 1990s when I visited New York in Japanese cherry season. At NYBG, that means a stroll to Cherry Hill, where you’ll see pink and white clouds of beautiful “sakura” trees.  And there’s a daffodil festival bolstered this spring by a huge planting commemorating the 125th birthday.

NYBG-Cherry Hill

But back to the perennial garden area. Adjoining it is the Nancy Bryan Luce Herb Garden, a formal knot garden.  This year, the parterres were filled wtih artichokes….

NYBG-Nancy Bryan Luce Herb Garden-2016

…. but a few years ago, there was a charming planting of clary sage (Salvia horminum).

NYBG-Nancy Bryan Luce Herb Garden-2014

The perennial garden also sits in the shadow of the spectacular and historic Enid Haupt Conservatory.

NYBG-Jane Watson Irwin Perennial Garden-Sign

Here is how that magnificent dome looks from the perennial garden.

NYBG-Enid Haupt Conservatory Dome

I always make a point of visiting the conservatory in order to see the season’s themed show, as designed by Francisca Coelho (they run from mid-May to mid-September). This year, it was all about American Impressionism, and the long gallery in the conservatory featured plants that represented that art movement, such as Celia Thaxter’s Garden.  Here’s what it looked like from the entrance….

NYBG-Impressionist Garden Plants 2016-Francisca Coelho design (2)

…. and from the far end of the gallery.

NYBG-Impressionist Garden Plants 2016-Francisca Coelho design (1)

I loved the 2014 show, which was titled “Groundbreakers: Great American Gardens and the Women Who Designed Them”. The conservatory show was titled ‘Mrs. Rockefeller’s Garden’, and was a nod to Eyrie, the Maine garden designed for Abby Aldrich Rockefeller in 1926 by Beatrix Farrand.

By doing this, purchase viagra online more you can de-stress oneself and take pleasure in a good aura. continue reading here purchase levitra online This is generally in people who suffer from ED for longer time, consider it as end of their happiness. In case if you have missed a dose, you can take the tablet as soon as you viagra 20mg india worked up the faintest sweat. Dosage pattern The dosage to this particular blue pill cialis prescriptions is simple. NYBG-2014-Mrs Rockefeller's Garden

 

But my favourite was 2008’s “Charles Darwin’s Garden”.

NYBG-Darwins Garden1-2008

They even created a little study for him, complete with desk and rocking chair.

NYBG-Darwins Study-2008

Adjoining glasshouses contain stunning displays of tropicals…..

NYBG-Tropicals

…..and another has cacti and succulents.

NYBG-Desert-Garden

Behind the conservatory is the wonderful courtyard pool.

Lotus-pool-NYBG

Here you see sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera)….

NYBG-Nelumbo nucifera

…sometimes with resting dragonflies….

NYBG-Dragonfly

…and luscious waterlilies, like Nymphaea ‘Pink Grapefruit’, below.

NYBG-Nymphaea 'Pink Grapefruit'

Walking through the garden (or you can take a tram), you’ll come to one of my new favourite places: the Native Plant Garden.  On August 16th, despite the lack of rain in the northeast this summer, the meadow portion was a symphony of prairie grasses, goldenrods and flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata), among other late season plants….

NYBG-Native Plant Garden-Outcrop

….. and buzzing with pollinators, as promised in the interpretive signage for the garden.

NYBG-Native Plants-Signage

Have you ever seen a glacial erratic? This is what happened in this very spot when the glaciers retreated from Manhattan thousands of years ago, leaving this massive boulder behind. Geologists identify these behemoths as erratics when they do not fit the mineral profile of the underlying rocks.

NYBG-Glacial Erratic-Native Plant Garden

The meadows are beautiful, but the new native wetland is also a revelation. Imagine, coming down this boardwalk…..

NYBG-Native Plant Wetland

….. and looking over the edge to see a huge collection of carnivorous pitcher plants (Sarracenia species and hybrids), along with orchids.

NYBG-Carnivorous-Plants

Keep walking and you’ll find a bench where you can contemplate the waterfall.

NYBG-Wetland-Lobelia cardinalis

All around you are native plants that are fond of damp conditions, including cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) and New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis).

NYBG-Native Plant Garden-Cardinal Flower & Ironweed

We’re not finished touring, so rest your legs until you’re ready to cast a glance over the rosy cloud of Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium) before heading back up the slope to the meadows.

NYBG-Wetland-Joe Pye Weed

Keep walking – you’re almost at the best place in New York to see roses: the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. In June, there’s even a festival – and it’s worth the extra cost to add it to your general admission.

NYBG-Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden

There are many other gardens, of course, including deep botanical collections of trees and shrubs. I usually pay a short visit to the Louise Loeb Vegetable Garden.

NYBG-Louise Loeb Vegetable Garden

And I sometimes pop by the Pauline Gillespie Plant Trials Garden to see how the new plants are faring.

NYBG-Pauline Gillespie Gosset Plant Trials Garden

But I never visit New York without making my way to the front gate of the New York Botanical Garden!  Happy 125th birthday, NYBG. Still humming along after all these years!

******

If you like the gardens of New York, please visit my blogs on Wave Hill in the Bronx, the Conservatory Garden in Central Park, and the High Line in spring, or in June (there are 2 parts to that one!) And you might also enjoy visiting fabulous Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, PA (another 2-parter)!

 

Butterfly Milkweed: PPA’s 2017 Plant of the Year!

You know that feeling of pride you get when a friend receives a well-deserved award? I feel exactly that way about an outstanding prairie wildflower that I’ve been growing here in my meadows on Lake Muskoka for many years. So, when I heard that The Perennial Plant Association chose my very favourite perennial – butterfly milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa — to be their 2017 Plant of the Year, I decided to honour it with my own blog.

Asclepias tuberosa-Apis mellifera1

The PPA award is not the first laurel to be bestowed on this lovely wildling. In 2014, it was awarded the Freeman Medal by the Garden Clubs of America, as a native deserving of wider garden planting. And the GCA president asked me if I would donate my photo of a monarch butterfly on the flowers, below, which I was happy to do (see down this page).

Asclepias tuberosa-Monarch butterfly

Despite the plaudits, butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) is not the easiest perennial to grow, unless you happen to garden on a sand prairie. It has a deep tap root that makes it rather difficult to transplant. And seeds are often notoriously slow to germinate and grow, sometimes taking 5 years to grow enough to set flower buds.  But give it a little rich, free-draining, gravelly soil and lots of sunshine, and watch the pollinating insects pile on. Foremost, of course, is the beautiful monarch butterfly, which uses it – as it does all milkweed species – as food for its caterpillars. If you’re lucky, you might see the female monarch ovipositing on its leaves or flowers.

Asclepias tuberosa-Monarch ovipositing

Come back and you’ll see the little egg on a leaf….

Asclepias tuberosa-Monarch egg on leaf

… or perhaps right in the flowers.

Asclepias tuberosa-Monarch egg on flower

Follow along over the next few weeks and you’ll see the various instars of the developing caterpillar munching away on the leaves….

Asclepias tuberosa-Monarch caterpillar

…. and the flower buds.

Asclepias tuberosa-Monarch larva

But monarchs aren’t the only butterflies fond of butterfly milkweed. Many others love the nectar-rich flowers, including the great spangled fritillary…

Asclepias tuberosa-Great Spangled Fritillary

…. hairstreaks, below, and many others.

Asclepias tuberosa- hairstreak

Bees love it too. On my property, I often see the orange-belted bumble bee (Bombus ternarius) nectaring….

Asclepias tuberosa-Bombus ternarius

….and the brown-belted bumble bee (Bombus griseocollis), too.

Asclepias tuberosa-Bombus griseocollis

Here’s a little video I made of the brown-belted bumble bee foraging on my butterfly milkweed. In the background, you can hear a red squirrel scolding and a lovely Swainson’s thrush singing its flute-like song.

Naturally, many native bees seek nectar from butterfly milkweed.  I’ve seen long-horned (Melissodes) bees….

Asclepias tuberosa-Megachile

…. and tiny, green sweat bees (Auguchlora pura), all enjoying the flowers.

Asclepias tuberosa-Augochlora pura

Honey bees are avid foragers, too.

Asclepias tuberosa-Apis mellifera3

Seek doctor’s advice before thinking to act.* If you want to get treated for alcohol addiction or drug abuse, you can get effective treatment in these rehab cheap cialis 5mg centers. Precautions This drug ought to be generic cialis in canada used by an impotence victim not by anyone else, not even a disorder. This process accentuates the production of contractile proteins which are used to make your muscle contract more forcefully, as well as structural proteins that are present sildenafil generico online naturally in the body. Human growth hormone or HGH is a hormone controlled canada tadalafil djpaulkom.tv by your pituitary gland. Okay, you get the picture. This is one superb pollinator plant!  But how should one grow it, and with what companions?  I have grown it in both reasonably rich, sandy soil, and very dry, lean, sandy soil, and I can attest that it prefers more moisture than other prairie plants, such as gaillardia and coreopsis. This is what it looked like near my septic system this July. I managed to keep it watered by running two hoses up the hill behind my cottage, but it was a struggle until a few rains came.

Drought-Milkweed

However, if summer rains are abundant, it’s happy with those more drought-tolerant natives.  Here it is growing very wild in dry soil with Coreopsis lanceolata.

Asclepias tuberosa-wild planting

And it does well in fairly dry conditions with Anthemis tinctoria.

Asclepias tuberosa & Anthemis tinctoria

On the other hand, it does well in reasonably rich soil with my Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, where I can run the hose if rains don’t come (like this summer)…..

Asclepias tuberosa & Crocosmia 'Lucifer'

…. and peeking up through my grassy monarda meadow, near a lush pink lily.

Asclepias tuberosa & Lily & Monarda

I’ve grown it with Penstemon barbatus ‘Coccineus’….

Penstemon barbatus & Asclepias tuberosa

…and with blackeyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta).

Rudbeckia & Asclepias 2

And I’ve seen it looking pretty with daylilies and catmint in a friend’s garden, too.

Asclepias tuberosa & Hemerocallis-Nepeta

Butterfly milkweed’s blooming season is so long, it counts numerous July and August plants as companions. Here is a bouquet I photographed on July 17th, 2010 with blackeyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta), false oxeye (Heliopsis helianthoides), veronica (Veronica spicata ‘Darwin’s Blue’) and blue vervain (Verbena hastata).

Asclepias tuberosa & bouquet companions

… and a collection of little bouquets I made on August 16th, 2013.

Asclepias tuberosa-August 16-Bouquets

If you want to know absolutely everything that might flower at the same time, here’s a montage I made one year on July 7th, 2014. Yes, that’s butterfly milkweed near the lower right corner. See if you can guess the rest!

Asclepias tuberosa & plant companions-July 7-2013

I have planted dozens of young butterfly milkweed plants here at Lake Muskoka over the years, like these ones offered by the Canadian Wildlife Federation (along with suitable nectar plants), as an encouragement to ‘bring back the monarch butterfly’. Most took, provided I irrigated them for the first summer; a few didn’t.

Canadian Wildlife Federation-Milkweed

But I have also managed to grow many from seed, which is harvested from the typical milkweed fruit capsule.  The ones that were most successful were those I guerilla-sowed, using the toe of my boot to kick them in along the edge of a gritty, community pathway midway down the hillside on a neighbour’s property. Under that granitic gravel, below, there was actually rich sandy soil and adequate moisture, given that the path sits mid-slope on the hill. But this tough environment best replicates the natural ‘sand prairie’ that butterfly milkweed likes.

Asclepias tuberosa-growing in gravel

You can also buy a seed mix in multiple colours:  ‘Gay Butterflies Mix’, below.

Asclepias tuberosa 'Gay Butterflies Mix'

Want to try your hand sowing butterfly milkweed? Follow these seeding instructions in a propagation guide in the Minnesota newsletter of Wild Ones:  “Collect when pods are cracked open. Remove down; cold stratify in fridge in damp sand for 90 days. Broadcast on soil surface in spring when soil is warm.

Best of luck growing this worthy award winner!  You and the pollinators – including the lovely monarch butterfly – are worth the effort.

My Cups Runneth Over (With Bees)….

(Hmmm. I just re-read my title and almost changed it, but decided not to. Snicker away – I’m going with “cups”.)

My second yellow-gold blog for July (the first was on companion plants for blackeyed susans) honours another composite prairie perennial that has pride of place in my meadows at Lake Muskoka.  Cup plant or Indian cup (Silphium perfoliatum) gets both its common name and Latin specific epithet from the way the leaves encircle the stem, thus making the stem appear to pierce the foliage – i.e. a ‘perfoliate’ habit.

This clasping leaf arrangement creates a kind of ‘cup’ in which water can collect after rains, supposedly providing drinking water for birds and insects. Alas, insects are often found floating in the water, with some experts suggesting that it may actually act as a deterrent against insect pests that might climb up the stem.

While it is a fabulous native, indigenous to moist woods and prairies in much of mid and east North America, including my province Ontario, its tendency to colonize makes it problematic. In fact, though it is classified as “threatened and endangered”in Michigan, it is “potentially invasive” and banned for sale in Connecticut. I received my fleshy roots from the compost bins of Toronto’s beautiful Spadina House gardens, and the gardeners gave me fair warning that it was invasive, and hard to dig up to control its spread. So I don’t; I merely enjoy it and give thanks for it when the bumble bees are nectaring on the big yellow flowers.

Here are bumble bees in action, along with a surprise visitor for whom those itty-bitty leaf pools are no deterrent, when tasty cup plant seedheads are the rewards for ascending that thick stem.

Honey bees love cup plant as well. There are no apiaries near my cottage on Lake Muskoka, but I photographed this one in the meadows at Miriam Goldberger’s Wildflower Farm an hour so south.

Butterflies like the monarch enjoy cup plant, too.


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I grow cup plants near my stairs so I can photograph the pollinators at eye level.

But they’re in my meadows as well. Though they prefer adqequate moisture in the soil, they are surprisingly drought-tolerant (as they’ve had to be this hot, dry summer), but will develop yellow leaves and stunted flowers in time. Here’s a colony below my bedroom window amidst sweet blackeyed susans (Rudbeckia subtomentosa) still to come into flower.

They make good companions to gray-headed coneflowers (Ratibida pinnata), which bloom at the same time.

They are easily the tallest perennials I grow. Last summer (a season of good rains), I lay down the loftiest stems so I could do a measurement. Yes, 9 feet.

I leave you with a little narrated tour…..

….and a cottage bouquet showing cup plant flowers in the bottom tier, surrounded by summer flowers like ratibida, perovskia, liatris and goldenrod.  Yellow/gold for July 2016, over and out.

Bouquet-Cup Plant & friends

A Cryptic Bumble Bee

In the course of photographing plants, I take so many photos of different types of bees that I’ve become familiar with many common species. Western honey bees (Apis mellifera), of course, are distinctive and utterly recognizable (and a primary focus of mine)…

Apis mellifera on Berberis thunbergii

… and I’ve enjoyed making the acquaintance of honey bee subspecies in Africa, and the Asian honey bee Apis dorsata,shown below on the beautiful shrub Rhodoleia championii at the Hong Kong Botanical Garden.

Apis dorsata on Rhodoleia championii

But native North American bees are so numerous and so similar in many respects, they can be a huge challenge to identify. So I’ve used the good detective services of the interactive site Bug Guide to separate my Melissodes, shown here on Echinacea pallida

Mellisodes on Echinacea pallida

…from my Megachiles, shown below enjoying a snack on common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)….

Megachile latimanus on Asclepias syriaca

…. from my Andrenas, including this one on a dog rose (Rosa canina)….

Andrena on Rosa canina

…. from my Agapostemons, like the one below (A. virescens) enjoying a coneflower.

Agapostemon virescens on Echinacea

Bumble bees are another big subject for me, and I’m fairly good at identifying the species in Ontario, like the good old common eastern bumble bee, Bombus impatiens brown-belted bumble bee (Bombus griseocollis) on blue false indigo (Baptisia australis) below. (Thank you H. Go of the American Museum of Natural History for the quick correction on my “fairly good” identity.  Did I mention bumble bees are tough sometimes too?)

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….and my favourite, the orange-belted bumble bee (Bombus ternarius), shown below on stiff-leafed goldenrod (Oligoneuron rigida).

Bombus ternarius on Oligoneuron rigida

In British Columbia, I’ve gradually learned the names of coastal bumble bees, like beautiful Bombus vosnesenskii, below, foraging on Rhododendron saluenense.

Bombus vosnesenskii on Rhododendron saluenense

But a trip to Edmonton and nearby Devonian Botanic Garden a few years ago yielded images of a bumble bee which, after some sleuthing on my own, I determined was likely Bombus moderatus, a species that has recently moved south into Alberta from the far north, including parts of Alaska.  Bee bloggers in Alberta were ecstatic. Here it is nectaring on showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa).

Bombus cryptarum on Asclepias speciosa

When I uploaded the photo to Bug Guide to ask for confirmation, however, I was told it was instead Bombus cryptarum, a cryptic bumble bee. That identification puzzled me because a cursory look on the internet yielded mentions of this species from Ireland and Czechoslovakia. How could my cold-adapted Canadian bumble bee be the same species as one from milder Ireland, an ocean away? So, in my usual cheeky way, I replied: “Bombus cryptarum is a British bumble bee. This is Alberta, Canada. I don’t think it can be that species. I think it might be B. moderatus, which has been seen in Alberta.”

Well, it serves me right for not researching the changes in Bombus taxonomy further. The Bug Guide response was brief:  “B. moderatus is a synonym of B. cryptarum”.  And I was pointed to a study on cryptic bumble bees. (According to Wikipedia, cryptic species are described as two or more species hidden under one species name.)

Thus, I spent a good part of my Saturday absorbing information on my bumble bee, which gets rather short shrift in studies, having being lumped at certain times with other European bees of similar colouring, such as Bombus lucorum. But how on earth did it reach Edmonton? It turns out that in a 2010 DNA barcode study (in the reports, these are referred to as CO1 barcodes, for Cytochrome c oxidase 1, small sections of protein encoded in a specific gene that can be used to analyze, identify and compare animal species), a northern Alberta bumble bee identified as Bombus moderatus was just 21 nucleotides away from an Eastern Russian bumble bee identified as Bombus cryptarum. Now, in Las Vegas and horseshoes that would be very close, but not really a cigar. However, in the world of DNA-aided bee taxonomy – and ignoring the implications for how one defines a North American “native” bumble bee –  it’s close enough to lump species together under the first published name. And of course, it isn’t really a long way from Kamchatka to Alaska (particular if the Bering Strait land bridge was still there), as the bee flies and adapts and speciates.

So… meet a pair of Bombus cryptarum (formerly Bombus moderatus), blissfully unaware of their wandering northern ancestors and cryptic, enigmatic, one-barcode-fits-all taxonomy, intent only on securing pollen from this lovely ‘Topaz Jewel’ rose, one of a handful of yellow rugosa roses. And perhaps illustrating in their own way that lovely line from Juliet to Romeo: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Bombus cryptarum on rose

 

Planting a Hummingbird Menu

One of our great summer joys at the cottage on Lake Muskoka is the closeup view we have of the ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) nectaring on flowers in the containers on our sundeck. Of the many hummingbirds in North America, the ruby-throated is the only species found east of the Great Plains.

Hummingbird in flowers

Those wings may be small but they’re very powerful, beating 50 times per second and capable of flying from Ontario all the way south to Costa Rica and other tropical areas during winter migration.

Hummingbird back

I haven’t put up a hummingbird feeder at the cottage.  I’m terrible at maintaining bird feeders and sugar water stations and don’t want the grief of pesky wasps invading the sweet stuff.  But I also prefer them to feed on real flower nectar, (much safer than sugar water which can harbour bacteria and also contains valuable micronutrients), and always buy flowering annuals that I know from past experience they’ll enjoy.  Over the years, a favourite has been agastache or hummingbird mint – not the purplish-blue anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) which is nonetheless a great bee plant, but the more tender species and hybrids of the southwestern species like Agastache rupestris, A. cana and A. mexicana.  Since hybridization of these great plants has exploded in the past decade or so, they are becoming more available as annuals in colder parts of the northeast, thank goodness, since they rarely return when winters are tough.

Hummingbird-on agastache

Like all hummingbirds, the rubythroated’s long beak is perfectly suited to tubular flowers.  And like all birds, whose vision is most acute in the red part of the light spectrum, it’s especially drawn to flowers in shades of red and orange, but will also seek out any nectar-rich flower that meets with its approval, especially in the early season when few flowers have emerged. I’ve seen them feeding on spring-blooming purple ‘PJM’ rhododendrons and yellow narcissus, among other plants.

Here are a few of my favourite choices for a hummingbird menu:

Agastache ‘Kudos’ series – As shown in my video, I grow both ‘Kudos Coral’ and ‘Kudos Mandarin’ from Terra Nova in my deck pots and they are both excellent nectar sources, but the coral cultivar seems a little more vigorous and floriferous, for some reason.

Hummingbird on Agastache 'Kudos Coral'

Salvia guaranitica ‘Black & Blue’Hummingbird sage is one of the most beautiful of the big salvias, with its azure-blue flowers and black stems and bracts. It will overwinter in milder areas (USDA Zone 7 and warmer), but it’s worth growing as an annual in cold regions for its ability to lure hummingbirds to its sweet nectar.

Hummingbird on Salvia3

Salvia microphylla ‘Hot Lips’ –  Another flowery video star, this lively little sage is really fun to grow and the hummingbirds love it.

Hummingbird on Salvia 'Hot Lips'

Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ Montbretia – Hummingbirds adore the red flowers of this South African bulb, a hybrid introduction of Alan Bloom. My cottage on Lake Muskoka is USDA Zone 4, but reliable snow cover has so far created conditions that have allowed ‘Lucifer’ (USDA Zone 6b) to multiply and spread…..

Crocosmia 'Lucifer'

…. much to the delight of the ruby-throated hummingbird below.

Hummingbird2 on Crocosmia

Here’s my little video of the hummingbird on Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’:

Tropaeolum majus – Nasturtium – Hummingbirds love nasturtiums, but they aren’t as satisfying in the bang-for-buck hummingbird potential as the smaller flowers of my previous two choices. Still, a nice old-fashioned flower (and a lovely salad garnish, since it’s edible).

Hummingbird on Nasturtium

Aquilegia canadensis – Eastern columbine – Since it flowers at the lake in late May and June, this one offers early nectar to returning hummingbirds. 

Aquilegia canadensis

Penstemon barbatus – Scarlet Bugler – Flowering in early summer and then sporadically later, I’ve heard this is one of the best penstemons for hummingbirds. Though I don’t have a lot of it and it’s down by the lake where I can’t keep my eye on it, I’m sure my hummers have found it.

Penstemon barbatus 'Coccinea'

Monarda didyma – Beebalm – Another hummingbird favourite. I can also attest to the popularity of wild beebalm, Monarda fistulosa, which I grow by the hundreds in my little meadows and have seen being visited by hummingbirds.

Monarda 'Panorama' red

Hummingbird bush, Uruguayan Firecracker Plant (Dicliptera suberecta) – I went out of my way to source this plant in 2014, but didn’t have the right conditions (gritty and very well-drained soil) and managed to get only a few flowers by summer’s end. So I’m not sure my hummers ever found it, but it is reputed to be a hummingbird magnet.

Dicliptera suberecta

Here are a few more ideas for your hummingbird grocery list:

  • Cigar Plant (Cuphea ignea) – A tender annual/tropical that’s good for hummingbirds and can usually be found in the specialty annuals section at better garden centres in early spring.
  • Firecracker Bush (Hamelia patens) – While you’re in the specialty annuals section, see if you can find this little tropical with the hummingbird-friendly red flowers.
  • Flowering Maple (Abutilon sp.) – Appears on lots of hummingbird lists, and a beautiful tropical shrub for a large container.
  • Fuchsia – Great for shady containers. And if you can find California fuchsia (Zauschneria californica), give them a whirl in your summer containers, too.
  • Cypress Vine, aka Hummingbird vine (Ipomoea quamoclit) – This is a wonderful annual vine with bright red flowers and a real hummingbird favourite.  I might try this one next year in my planters.
  • Honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.) – Hummingbird favourites, but choose a native northeastern species like L. sempervirens or L. dioica, not an invasive Asian honeysuckle. ‘Major Wheeler’ is a good one to attract hummers.
  • Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans) – A big, heavy vine but oh-so-attractive to hummingbirds when those orange trumpets open in summer.
  • Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica) – A spectacular-looking, early summer denizen of shady woodland places.
  • Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) – A good, late-summer hummingbird lure for damp conditions.
  • Pink Turtlehead (Chelone lyonii) – A lovely late-summer perennial for moisture-retentive places.

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But plants don’t have to have red flowers to attract hummingbirds (as we saw above with Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’.). I’ve seen them nectaring on daffodils in May and other yellow flowers, including biennial evening primrose (Oenothera biennis), below, a nice weedy plant in my meadows.

Hummingbird on oenothera

And I loved watching the ruby-throated below nectar on the tiny flowers of Nicotiana mutabilis. The main thing is to offer them that deep trumpet they love to explore with their long beaks.

Hummingbird on Nicotiana mutabilis