BACKYARD WILDLIFE ✦ GARDEN
How to Attract Hummingbirds to Your Backyard:
10 Things That Actually Work
The complete hummingbird garden starter kit — feeders, plants, misters, and a few things most people never think to add.
Learning how to attract hummingbirds to your backyard is less about luck and more about creating the right conditions. I hung a hummingbird feeder on our farm for two summers before I ever saw a single bird at it — wrong placement, wrong nectar mix, and absolutely no plants to back it up.
Once you have the right conditions in place, hummingbirds don’t just visit — they come back year after year, remembering exactly where your feeders are. This is the complete shopping list of what actually works, from the right feeder to the plants they can’t resist.
No sponsorships here — just a homesteader on the Kansas/Oklahoma border sharing what finally brought hummingbirds to our yard.
How to Attract Hummingbirds to Your Backyard: Your Complete Shopping List
🌺 A Glass Hummingbird Feeder (Not Plastic)
This was my first mistake — I started with a plastic feeder because it was cheap. Glass feeders are worth the upgrade for three reasons: they don’t absorb odors, they’re easier to clean, and they don’t leach chemicals into the nectar in summer heat. Look for a feeder with red accents (hummingbirds are strongly attracted to red), bee-proof ports sized right for hummingbird beaks, and a built-in ant moat at the top. Easy to disassemble, easy to clean, and beautiful in the yard.
→ Shop Glass Hummingbird Feeders on Amazon
🌺 Buy TWO Feeders — Not One
Hummingbirds are territorial. One dominant bird will often claim a single feeder and chase every other hummingbird away. The solution is to hang multiple feeders far enough apart that the territorial bird can’t guard all of them at once. Two feeders on opposite sides of the yard dramatically increases how many hummingbirds you attract. Small feeders also mean more frequent refills which keeps the nectar fresher.
→ Shop 2-Pack Hummingbird Feeders on Amazon
🧹 A Feeder Cleaning Brush Set
Clean your feeder with hot soapy water every time you refill — more often in hot weather. Mold in a dirty feeder can kill hummingbirds. A bottle brush set sized for hummingbird feeders makes this much easier and faster than trying to clean the narrow ports with a standard brush. Make it part of the refill routine and your birds will stay healthy all season.
→ Shop Feeder Cleaning Brush Sets on Amazon
🌸 Bee Balm (Monarda) — The #1 Hummingbird Plant
If I could only plant one thing to attract hummingbirds, it would be Bee Balm. Monarda’s tubular red and pink flowers are perfectly shaped for hummingbird beaks, it blooms for weeks in midsummer when hummingbirds need it most, and it comes back bigger every year as a perennial. It also attracts bees and butterflies — it’s the ultimate multi-pollinator plant. Plant it near your feeders so arriving hummingbirds get a double signal that your yard is worth visiting.
→ Shop Bee Balm Seeds on Amazon
🌺 Red Salvia — Blooms All Season
Red salvia (Salvia splendens) blooms from early summer through frost, providing nectar for months rather than weeks. Plant both red and purple salvia varieties if you have room — the extended bloom window means hummingbirds have a reason to visit your yard from May through October. Salvia is also drought-tolerant once established, which matters in Kansas summers.
→ Shop Red Salvia Seeds on Amazon
🌿 Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Cardinal Flower is a native perennial with brilliant scarlet blooms that hummingbirds find irresistible — the flower tube is literally designed for their beak length. It’s one of the most effective native plants for attracting Ruby-throated Hummingbirds specifically, the species we get in Kansas and Oklahoma. It prefers moist conditions and part shade — perfect for a spot near a water feature or the east side of the house. Plant it once and it self-seeds and naturalizes over time.
→ Shop Cardinal Flower Seeds on Amazon
🌸 Trumpet Vine — The Big Statement Plant
For a permanent, large-scale hummingbird attractor, a climbing vine is hard to beat. Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans) produces masses of orange-red tubular flowers from midsummer through fall and is one of the most reliable hummingbird plants for the Great Plains region. Fair warning: it’s vigorous — it will cover a fence, trellis, or arbor enthusiastically and needs annual pruning. But once established it’s a hummingbird magnet every single season.
→ Shop Trumpet Vine Seeds on Amazon
💧 A Garden Mister
Most people don’t know that hummingbirds bathe — and they love it. They don’t use traditional birdbaths (too deep) but they’ll fly through a fine mist repeatedly. A garden mister that attaches to your hose creates a misting zone that hummingbirds will use for bathing and cooling off on hot summer days. Position it near a perching spot so they can preen after bathing. A mister is one of those additions that can turn occasional visits into daily ones once hummingbirds discover it.
→ Shop Garden Misters on Amazon
🌿 A Hummingbird Swing
Hummingbirds need to eat every 15 minutes, but between meals they rest and survey their territory. A hummingbird swing is a small perch designed specifically for them — once they discover it they’ll use it as a regular lookout point between feeding flights. Hang it near your feeders where they can see the whole yard. Having a dedicated perch makes them more likely to claim your yard as their regular territory rather than just passing through.
→ Shop Hummingbird Swings on Amazon
📚 Stokes Field Guide to Hummingbirds
Once hummingbirds start visiting regularly, you’ll want to know which species you’re seeing, when to expect them, and what their behavior means. The Stokes Field Guide to Hummingbirds is the most recommended for North America — organized by region, full-color photos, includes migration timing maps so you know exactly when to put your feeders out and when to take them down in fall. Also makes an excellent gift for anyone who loves backyard wildlife.
→ Shop Stokes Hummingbird Field Guide on Amazon
Related: Butterfly Garden Starter Kit — many of the same plants that attract hummingbirds also bring monarchs and swallowtails.
The Secret to Hummingbirds 🌺
The secret isn’t one perfect feeder or one magical plant. It’s creating a yard where hummingbirds feel safe, well-fed, and comfortable enough to return. Feeders bring them in. Plants make them stay. Water keeps them coming back daily.
Be patient with your first season — hummingbirds need time to find you. But once they do, they’ll remember. 🌿
Are hummingbirds already visiting your yard? Drop a comment — I’d love to know which plants or feeders have worked best for you!