Fill your hanging baskets with these plants to get hummingbirds flocking to your yard. There are shade or sun-loving plants on this list, and all of them look gorgeous.
Hanging baskets bring a huge punch of wow to areas of your yard that may not have flower beds. They also add height and interest and bring the hummingbird action up close and at eye level.
These hanging plants also look great in raised beds or in your borders. Wherever they are, they will attract hummingbirds to your yard.
Watch how many more hummers you get when you add the right plants to your yard.
Best hanging plants to attract hummingbirds:
1. Petunias
These colorful and inexpensive annuals are easy to grow in a sunny location, and they work great in a container. They create abundant flowers that look great tumbling out of pots and containers.
They are often sold as young plants in flats at a nursery, but you can also grow them from seed. If growing from seed, grow them ten weeks before your last frost date and then plant out once this risk has passed.
Petunias are quite heat-tolerant, but they should get a good soaking about once a week.
Prune them to about half the height to prevent them from getting thin and leggy.
Try planting the brighter colors in the reds and pinks for hummingbirds.
- Growing Zones: 9 to 11
- Sun: Full Sun
- Soil: Well-drained moist soil
- Colors: Red, pink, white, blue, purple
- Height: 6 – 18 inches
- Spread: 18 inches to 4 feet
2. Lantana
Lantanas are a great way to add interest to pots and containers, and hummingbirds are attracted to their small clustered flowers.
Due to their vine-like growing nature, they look great spilling over pots and baskets.
They can be grown as an annual in colder regions and as an evergreen shrub in frost-free areas.
They are considered invasive in frost-free areas, so check if there are restrictions but growing them in pots will help to stop any spread.
- Growing Zones: 8 – 11 or grow as annual
- Sun: Full sun
- Soil: Well-drained, slightly acid
- Colors: Red, orange, yellow, blue, pink, and white
- Height: 6 feet
- Spread: 6 feet
3. Fuchsias
Fuschias are bright hardy perennials that provide nectar for hummingbirds all through the summer.
They look especially great in pots and containers with their beautiful flowers abundantly drooping over the sides.
Fuschias come in hardy varieties and are easy to grow in most soils. They require very little maintenance and are a great addition to your potted garden.
They prefer dappled shade and not too much heat and will brighten up a more shady area of your patio.
Pinch off growing tips after flowering and fertilize every two weeks in the growing season.
They may need to be brought inside in the winter in colder areas.
- Growing Zones: 6 – 11
- Sun: Partial sun to shade
- Soil: well-drained moist soil
- Colors: Pink, purple, white, orange, and blue
- Height: 1 – 3 feet
- Spread: 1 – 5 feet
4. Nasturtiums
These trailing edible flowers are perfect for creating hanging baskets for hummingbirds due to their rich nectar and specially designed deep flowers.
Usually grown as annuals, they come in trailing or bush types. Plant the seeds just after the last frosts outdoors.
They need watering in the growing season and deadheading.
- Growing Zones: 2 – 11
- Sun: Full
- Soil: Well-drained
- Colors: Red, orange, yellow, pink.
- Height: 1 – 10 feet
- Spread: 1 – 3 feet
5. Trumpet Vine
The abundant and huge flowers of the trumpet vine, often in shades of red, are extremely attractive to hummingbirds.
Sometimes known as trumpet creeper or trumpet flower, the trumpet vine is a great hanging basket plant due to its trailing nature.
It is very fast-growing and can take over, so growing them as hanging basket flowers is a great way to control this.
They are best grown from plants or cuttings, otherwise, it can take several years to flower.
- Growing Zones: 4 – 9
- Sun: Full sun or partial shade
- Soil: Well-drained
- Colors: Red, orange, yellow
- Height: 25 – 40 feet
- Spread: 5 – 10 feet
6. Bleeding Heart
Bleeding Heart are shade-loving plants that flower during the spring and have a lovely sweet smell. They are perennial and require little maintenance.
They make a fantastic addition to a shady corner, and the delicate flowers look amazing, arching out of a hanging basket.
If they get too hot or too much sun, they will die back, but the roots will be fine, and the plant will come back the following year.
Keep them well watered in the growing season, with the soil moist but not too wet.
- Growing Zones: 3 – 9
- Sun: Partial shade
- Soil: Well-drained, moist
- Colors: Red, White, Pink
- Height: 3 feet
- Spread: 3 feet
7. Impatiens
Impatiens are bright and colorful annuals that are great at brightening up dark and shady areas. They like moist and well-draining soil and deep shade, so hanging them on your porch will also work well.
They are usually grown from plants bought in trays at nurseries and planted close together to create a dense mat of flowers and leaves.
Seeds can be collected from the plants and sown indoors ten weeks before the last frost as they take a long time to flower. Cuttings can also be taken in the fall and grown indoors until the frost has passed.
- Growing Zones: 2 – 11
- Sun: Shade or partial shade
- Soil: Rich, well-draining
- Colors: Red, pink, purple, yellow, coral.
- Height: 6 – 36 inches
- Spread: 1 – 3 feet
