Flowers for late hummingbirds
People are worrying about late migrating hummingbirds. I take my feeder down at the end of September and hope that they can find insects which is better food anyway. Does anyone know of native plants that I can put around my yard that would still be in Bloom? I have Asters with a lot of bees but others have already gone that would have nectar anyway or attract insects.
Susanne (Susie) Shrader
West Hartford
Actually, insects make up only about 10% of a hummingbird diet,
according to Cornell’s Birds of the World, but there are still late
bloomers, like asters, that provide late nectar sources.
Chris Wood
Woodbury, CT
203 558-0654
[1]C.S. Wood Photo Sampler
On Oct 14, 2025, at 10:03 AM, Bird Comcast Bird via CTBirds
<ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org> wrote:
People are worrying about late migrating hummingbirds. I take my
feeder down at the end of September and hope that they can find insects
which is better food anyway. Does anyone know of native plants that I
can put around my yard that would still be in Bloom? I have Asters with
a lot of bees but others have already gone that would have nectar
anyway or attract insects.
Susanne (Susie) Shrader
West Hartford
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References
Definitely the many varieties of wild asters and golden rods have insects on pollen if not tubes with nectar (tiny spiders are yummy!) For nectar, tubular annuals like fuscia though certainly not native here are a magnet, also cuphea 'David Verity', salvias, sunflowers, nicotiana, any of the petunia and calebrachoa varieties - all flowering well into October when the hummers should have gone - and all preferred over the feeders I hang! I think you can bend the "natives only" rules a bit with non-invasive annuals!
Angela Dimmitt
New Milford
On Tuesday, October 14, 2025 at 10:03:01 AM EDT, Bird Comcast Bird via CTBirds <ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org> wrote:
People are worrying about late migrating hummingbirds. I take my feeder down at the end of September and hope that they can find insects which is better food anyway. Does anyone know of native plants that I can put around my yard that would still be in Bloom? I have Asters with a lot of bees but others have already gone that would have nectar anyway or attract insects.
Susanne (Susie) Shrader
West Hartford
To subscribe or unsubscribe via email, send an email with just "join" or "leave" in the subject or body to: ctbirds-request@lists.ctbirding.org
CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing birders together statewide. Please support COA: https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/
CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/