Red Hot Poker

Another Flower to Attract Hummingbirds and the admiration of your friends and neighbors! The common name is Red Hot Poker. I suggest  Flamenco or Kniphofia uvaria. It blooms over a longer time period and has more blooms in total.    Hummers love their three foot flower spikes.  The flower spikes are a red-orange with a mellow yellow at the base.  The strap-shaped foliage adds a nice contrast to other plants.  The plant can be two feet high and three feet wide.  Plant it in full sun with good drainage.  This plant is both heat and drought tolerant once established, a truly care free plant!   Hardy in Zones 5 to 9.

Click here to see vido on how to grow Red Hot Poker Plants video_4992906_grow-redhot-poker-kniphofia-uvaria.html

Fountain Plant

The Fountain  Plant or Russelia equsetiformis is the one!   It is also commonly called the Firecracker plant also. Its brilliant red flowers appear on 12-inch long sprays throughout the warm season.  The blooms are 3/4 “to 1” in length and are narrowly tubular, making them ideally suited for the long, slender bills of hummingbirds.

Other common names for this plant are coral fountain, firecracker plant, rain of fire, and coral blow.  With its cascading fronds and red blooms planted in a tall slender red pot, it will be a great focus plant!  I love containers as you can vary the forms and colors you select and they can be moved to show them off when in full bloom, then retired to less prominent

Flowers of Fountain Plant

locations when not at their peak of glory.

The Fountain Plant can reach 3 to 6 feet high and 4 feet wide.  If that is a bit large for you, just limit the width of the container but keep good height to the container as the branches take root easily and may  have a tendency to be invasive.  Or, to simplify, just plant it in a hanging pot!

In the United States, you can find over 16 kinds of Hummingbirds. For people east of the Rockies, the most prevalent by far is the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. In fact the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is the most widely distributed of the worlds’ 338 species of Hummingbirds, all of which occur ONLY in the Western Hemisphere.

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is often found between woodland and meadow. However, it has adapted well to human development, but only if there is shelter, space and food. Thus, it is frequently seen in suburban backyards with mature trees and shrubs, in wooded parks, and around farmsteads.

The Keys to Attracting Hummingbirds are to provide Food, Help for Nesting, and Misters (Water) for them to fly through. Offer lots of feeders protected from ants and keep your feeders clean. Hummingbirds will not feed at a dirty feeder.

Visit our website and view our selection of Hummingbird Feeders.