It is estimated that one third of human food comes from plants that require pollinators to produce fruits and seeds. Thus, helping pollinators helps us all. Common pollinators include birds, bees, butterflies, moths, flies, and beetles. Around our gardens, hummingbirds are one of the most noticeable pollinators.
Additional Reading: Healthy Ways to Attract Pollinators to Your Garden
Providing food in the form of flowering plants (and avoiding pesticides) helps hummingbirds. Planting hummingbird-friendly plants is a fun way to attract these winged jewels, and is easier than the regular cleaning and refilling a hummingbird-feeder requires. Providing a variety of plants that bloom throughout the year is ideal, which we can easily do here in the Northwest.
Generally, hummingbirds are attracted to tubular-shaped flowers. They also see ultraviolet light that we cannot, so they perceive colors differently than we do. The following plants are proven hummingbird magnets:
| Botanical Genus | Common Name | Plant Type | Bloom Season |
| Abelia | Abelia | Shrub | Spring to Frost |
| Abutilon | Flowering Maple | Annual | Summer to Frost |
| Agastache | Hummingbird Mint | Perennial | Summer |
| Amelanchier | Serviceberry | Small tree / Shrub | Spring |
| Aquilegia | Columbine | Perennial | Spring |
| Arbutus | Madrone, Strawberry Tree | Tree | Summer – Fall |
| Arctostaphylos | Manzanita, Kinnikinnik | Shrub | Winter – Spring |
| Campsis | Trumpet Vine | Vine | Summer |
| Ceanothus | California Lilac | Shrub | Spring – Summer |
| Crocosmia | Montbretia | Perennial | Summer |
| Daphne | Daphne | Shrub | Spring |
| Dicentra | Bleeding Heart | Perennial | Spring |
| Fuchsia | Fuchsia | Shrub | Spring to Frost |
| Lobelia | Lobelia | Perennial | Summer – Fall |
| Lonicera | Honeysuckle | Vine | Spring – Summer |
| Mahonia | Mahonia | Shrub | Winter – Spring |
| Penstemon | Beard Tongue | Perennial | Spring – Summer |
| Phaseolus coccineus | Scarlet Runner Bean | Annual Vine | Summer |
| Phygelius | Cape Fuchsia | Shrubby Perennial | Summer – Fall |
| Philadelphus | Mock Orange | Shrub | Spring |
| Rhododendron | Rhododendron | Shrub | Spring – Summer |
| Ribes | Flowering Currant | Shrub | Spring |
| Salvia | Sage | Perennial | Summer – Fall |
| Vaccinium ovatum | Evergreen Huckleberry | Shrub | Spring – Summer |
| Vitex | Chaste Tree | Shrub | Spring – Summer |
| Zauschneria | California Fuchsia | Perennial | Summer – Fall |