Q: I’d like to attract hummingbirds to my garden. What perennials do you recommend?

A: The two most common varieties of hummingbird on the Front Range are the
broad-tailed hummingbird and the rufous. They visit Colorado twice a year: mid-April through May, and again from mid-July through September.

Attracting hummingbirds involves selecting perennials with bright-colored red, pink, and orange flowers that are in bloom at the times they are in Colorado, and are visible from 30 to 50 feet overhead during their migrations. One way to improve the odds is massing like-colored plants together to create large swaths of color.

Some of the perennials known to attract hummingbirds on the Front Range are agastache, penstemon, and salvia. All are drought-tolerant plants that thrive in similar conditions and require minimal maintenance.

Once you have attracted hummingbirds, it is likely they will become frequent visitors. Besides being the only bird that can fly backward, they have good memories for the gardens they call their “Colorado vacation home”.

Q: What type of garden conditions are required by agastache and penstemon?

A: Agastache (or hyssop) and penstemon (or beardtongue) are xeric plants that prefer full sun and well drained, unamended soil. They can actually be killed by overwatering, over-fertilizing or soils that are too rich. Spring is a good time to plant penstemon, which bloom in late-spring to summer. Agastache, on the other hand, prefers to be planted in warmer temperatures of late May and will flower from mid-July through September. While both are low-maintenance perennials, their bloom time can be extended by periodic deadheading.

Both have varieties that produce red, pink, orange, blue and purple flowers. They also fit well into naturalistic style gardens of Colorado. Because of their tried-and-true performances in Colorado, each have been selected as Plant Select® perennials. For additional information about Plant Select®, a cooperative program between Colorado State University and Denver Botanic Gardens, visit plantselect.org.

Gardening and Insect Fact Sheets are available on-line by clicking HERE.

Return to Master Gardener Articles

This page updated:  August 5, 2008