Hummingbirds love my salvias. The ones I grow (Black and Blue) are not natives, I don’t think, but there are native salvias you could try.

If you are looking to bring in birds and butterflies, try adding a little water feature or birdbath. There are pellets that you can put in it to keep mosquitoes from breeding. The water really does attract birds and they are wonderful to watch.

It’s not exactly a native (it’s a hybrid of a North American native), but Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’ is a wonderful bee/butterfly/hummingbird magnet. Callirhoe (wine cups) is spectacular and long blooming, and thrives is hot/dry places. Regular garden phlox and coreopsis (like Zagreb) are also good choices.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Longtime gardener here. I learned in recent years to get the "straight species" of native plants and not the cultivars, which may not attract or provide enough nutrition for wildlife. There's a growing body of research on this.

I think it depends. I don’t have room for Joe Pye Weed, but “little Joe” does great for me. I think it’s just a short sport. I love my white coneflowers and so do the goldfinches. Cultivars may be a good compromise or stepping stone for people.

Agree that it's better than invasive non-natives!

Anonymous wrote:Longtime gardener here. I learned in recent years to get the "straight species" of native plants and not the cultivars, which may not attract or provide enough nutrition for wildlife. There's a growing body of research on this.

I think it depends. I don’t have room for Joe Pye Weed, but “little Joe” does great for me. I think it’s just a short sport. I love my white coneflowers and so do the goldfinches. Cultivars may be a good compromise or stepping stone for people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jacob Cline bee balm is what consistently attracts hummingbirds for me. It is pretty tall and floppy, but if you cut it back by about half in late may/early June, it will bloom later and smaller but will stay shorter.

Regular milkweed is pretty tall and not terribly attractive. There is a much shorter, bright orange variety that also attracts butterflies.

I just started some common milkweed from seed and now you guys have me second guessing this! I don’t have a huge yard and it seems like this species is more suited to open spaces where it can really grow wild?

yes, common milkweed is better suited for open spaces - in my yard it keeps escaping and popping up all over my lawn and flower beds. And I wouldn't call that plant all that attractive - flowers are pretty for very short period of time.
swamp milkweed is better in my opinion

DP. I've got common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) and butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). I like them all very much but for looks alone, I like butterfly weed the best. The flowers are lovely. But, you can't beat the impact that common milkweed makes. It's big and the flower head is huge. I also like the smell. The swamp milkweed, IMO, just doesn't do much for me. It's just kind of meh but I know the butterflies really like it. It grows just fine in the really hot, dry parts of my yard.

I also have some dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum) that I work hard to eradicate. It's easily confused with any of the milkweeds and even has seed pods like them. It can also spread by runner and if you don't get all of the root, it pops back up. It's a pain.

Longtime gardener here. I learned in recent years to get the "straight species" of native plants and not the cultivars, which may not attract or provide enough nutrition for wildlife. There's a growing body of research on this.

Anonymous wrote:Gerbera
There is also one that looks like Gerbera but better in my opinion. The national arboretum has the most variety of flowers.

Those aren't native to midatlantic region though, are they?

Anonymous wrote:It won't let me post pics, so this is my list
Astilbe biternata
Muhlenbergia capillaris - this is a grass
Monarda punctata
Filipendula rubra

I believe astilbe normally prefers partial shade

Gerbera
There is also one that looks like Gerbera but better in my opinion. The national arboretum has the most variety of flowers.

It won't let me post pics, so this is my list
Astilbe biternata
Muhlenbergia capillaris - this is a grass
Monarda punctata
Filipendula rubra

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Came here to say swamp rose, but looked it up first and saw it is AKA rose mallow

Also like black-eyed susan and red columbine for hummingbirds. You also can’t go wrong planting some milkweed or buttonbush, but buttonbush likes wet feet.

Thanks! Do hummingbirds also like blue columbine? I already do have a small one of those in the yard.

Does milkweed get very high? (it's for my front yard)

PS are there actually hummingbirds in DC? I've never seen one here!

https://www.provenwinners.com/plants/cuphea/vermillionaire-large-firecracker-plant-cuphea-hybrid

I don't know that it's native but buy a small plant and put it in a pot in a sunny location and water it here and there. You WILL have hummingbirds.

It's a cuphea called vermillionaire.