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Texas flowers that will surely bring migrating hummingbirds flocking to your backyard

There are two ways to bring hummingbirds into your backyard as they make their way into Texas for the spring: either through installing a feeder or growing suitable flowers.

Here’s what you should know about both methods.

Here’s how to set up your hummingbird feeder

Having a hummingbird feeder allows you to watch the birds up close in your backyard. Most will feature artificial red flowers that tend to attract hummers. While having a backyard feeder will allow you to attract hummingbirds, proper care and maintenance of the feeder is necessary in order to prevent harming the birds.

  • Use a sugar-water mixture that is one part sugar to four or five parts water.

  • Change it every few days to keep it from fermenting.

  • Scrub the feeder to prevent mold.

  • The general recommendation is to put up feeders by the Ides of March, March 15 up until two weeks after you’ve seen the last hummingbird.

  • You can leave your feeder up all year if you’d like to attract winter species like the Rufous hummingbird, per TPWD.

Flowers in Texas that will attract the migrating hummingbirds

Aside from installing a feeder, you can attract a larger, more diverse group of hummingbirds by providing a garden full of brightly colored flowers, a water source and a few perching trees. Make sure the water is very shallow or has a dripper or mister attachment, TPWD recommends.

Hummingbird flowers are typically bright orange or red and have very long trumpet-shaped flowers, very small or non-existent petals, little or no scent and hang down. However, hummingbirds will feed on any flower that has ample nectar.

Plants that attract hummingbirds include:

  • Turk’s cap

  • Morning-glory

  • Silver-leaf sunflower

  • Coral vine

  • Esperanza or yellow alder

  • Trumpet vine

  • All honeysuckles

  • Coral-bean

  • Hibiscus

  • Azalea

  • Bee balm

  • Bergamot

  • Columbine

  • Tiger lily

  • Larkspur

  • Nasturtium

  • Scarlet sage

  • Beauty bush

  • Butterfly bush

  • Weigela

  • Cardinal flower

  • Coral bells

  • Foxglove

  • Snapdragon

  • Scarlet salvia

  • Pea tree

  • Mimosa tree

  • Horse chestnut