Here's One Of The Best Colorful Plants To Grow To Attract Hummingbirds To Your Yard

People love attracting hummingbirds to their yards. These birds are gorgeous creatures, and watching them flit quickly about the garden in colorful dashes is a favorite pastime for many. The brightly-colored birds are not only perfect for your backyard aesthetic, but they also have the added benefit of being helpful caretakers in the garden. They will nourish and protect your yard by pollinating your plants and eating harmful pests. With both beauty and practical benefits, it's no wonder people are constantly searching for ways to draw in these lovely guests. To attract them to your yard, try planting perennial beardtongue (Penstemon).

There are lots of different tactics homeowners experiment with to try and draw in hummingbirds. These can include things like creating their own nectar, making feeders, or attracting them with bright colored ribbons. Bird feeders and homemade nectar are great ideas that DIY enthusiasts will surely love. But if that's not your cup of tea, don't worry, as planting colorful flowers like beardtongue is also a surefire way to attract hummingbirds to your yard without a feeder. While there are plenty of flowers that attract hummingbirds, beardtongues stand out from the rest because of their bright colors, tubular shapes, and nectar.

The cones in hummingbirds' retinas help them see bright colors like red, pink, orange, and yellow better than others, which is why flowers in these colors are often so successful at drawing them in. Beardtongue has hundreds of different colored species that include these favorites, making them a great choice for attracting the birds. It's not just their coloring that makes them effective, though — it's also their shape. Along with color, hummingbirds are also drawn by the shape of blooms and the quantity of nectar. Beardtongues check both these boxes, as their tubular design is a perfect fit for a hummingbird's long beak. This makes it easier for them to get the flower's abundance of nectar. It's perhaps this, more than the color, that makes them the ultimate plant for attracting hummingbirds.

Creating your bird-friendly garden can start with adding beardtongues if you live in USDA zones 4 through 9. When planting, select an area that gets lots of sunlight and easily drains, as beardtongues prefer this type of environment. Give them room to expand when planting, and keep in mind that they can grow up to 4 feet in height.  These flowers have longer blooming seasons, so if you take good care of them, they can last well into fall. Finally, make sure you situate your favorite lounge chair within view of your newly planted beardtongues so you can easily sit back, relax, and enjoy the hummingbirds' colorful show.