I am building a hummingbird garden in my yard in Surrey and am looking for plants that will flower in the winter to continue attraching the birds. Any suggestions?
flowering in winter yes, attracting hummingbirds... not sure, leaning towards not really. Sarcoccocca spp. , Hamamelis spp. , Jasmine nudiflorum, heather spp.
not exactly winter, but the Anna's hummingbird times its return here each spring to match the blooming of red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum).
I find the Anna's hummingbird to be a fairly regular visitor to my garden in west-side Vancouver in mid winter. Two shrubs are especially attractive and receive attention from the hummingbird. (I do not use hummingbird feeders.) Grevillia victoria bears orangish tubular flowers in profusion from September through till late spring. It is an evergreen shrub which has done really well over the past five or six years, though I have to be careful to shake snow off if there is a heavy fall ! The other hummingbird favourite I grow is Lonicera x purpusii 'Winter Beauty' . This is a low, shrubby honeysuckle, semi-evergreen which bears whitish sweetly scented small flowers in early winter. Both plants were obtained from the Shop in the Garden at UBC but should be more widely available from specialty nurseriies. It is pretty neat to stand by a shrub in winter sunshine watching a humming bird feed. Oddly, Eastern relatives do not appreciate hearing about these B.C. moments!
Still on the subject of attracting hummongbirds in winter Another favourite I ommitted.. Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn' which has wonderfully fragrant pink flowers which open on sunny days from November til late winter. I have it close to my livingroom window. This is an easy plant to find!
Gravillea Victoria Joan, Would it possible for you to post a picture of the Gravillea Victoria prefably in bloom?
[The Grevillea is in bud right now. We will get a picture up in a few weeks when the flowers come out!
