Attract Hummingbirds With a Hanging Basket of Nectarous Blooms – These 7 Easy-Grow Beauties Will Bring Hummers Flocking to Your Backyard

If you want to attract hummingbirds to your garden, filling a hanging basket with these nectar-rich plants won't just feed the hummers, it'll bring you fabulous views of the feasting birds. All these hummingbird plants thrive in a hanging basket and bloom for months on end, so their nectar-rich flowers will bring hummingbirds to your garden all summer long.

Hummers are particularly attracted to red, pink and yellow colors so most of our recommendations for a hanging hummingbird planter are extra-bright cultivars in these warm hues known to be especially favored by pollinators. Only one isn't – but it's been purposefully bred to be a natural hummingbird feeder! Lots of our choices have tubular blooms which are hugely attractive to hummers as not all pollinators can access the nectar, meaning they’re often still full of fuel when flatter-shaped flowers have been exhausted.

Ready to enjoy more hummingbirds than ever in your backyard this summer? Take your pick of these botanical riches for the most popular hanging basket in town!

1. Petunia Wave Carmine Velour

Hummingbirds adore the deep wells of nectar in the centre of petunia blooms and this variety has large, 2½ inch velvety blooms in a rich carmine red that’s a beacon to pollinators. The color of the flowers won’t fade in sunlight like some petunia cultivars can, and the plant blooms continuously from spring till late summer. Deadheading will bring more flowers but honestly, if you can’t be bothered, fresh blooms will still continue to pop up.

This is a spreading annual variety suitable for all zones, and it works really well in a hanging basket as stems trail over the sides. Petunias are slow growers so start seeds indoors now and transplant once all danger of frost has passed. This is a speciality hybrid so you don’t get many seeds in a packet but don’t worry as germination is excellent and each plant produces an amazing number of flowers.

2. Nasturtium ‘Jewel Cherry Rose’

Nasturtiums are some of the easiest and quickest flowers to grow from seed, blooming just 8–10 weeks after sowing. The seeds are relatively large, too, so nasturtiums are an easy win for children and beginner gardeners. Experts will be more than happy with the opulent blooms of this 'Jewel Cherry Rose' cultivar, too, as will any hummingbirds in the neighborhood!

The punchy pink flowers grow on trailing stems so this is a lovely choice for a hanging basket, and the round leaves are variegated for added prettiness. Removing faded flowers keeps this annual flowering up to the first frost but don’t feed this hard worker as nasturtiums do best in poor soil.

The blooms are edible, too, so don’t leave them all for the hummers: pick a few to cheer up a salad or decorate a cake. Suitable for all zones.

3. Salvia ‘Hummingbird Falls’

This recently introduced cultivar is a breakthrough Salvia guaranitica hybrid bred specifically for hummingbirds. It’s compact, easy to grow, and its trailing stems make it perfect for a hanging basket. Heat-tolerant, Salvia ‘Hummingbird Falls’ blooms consistently from April to October. Stems can trail to 3 feet long so you and the hummers will enjoy plenty of the violet-blue flowers.

As it’s a Salvia, the leaves have a pleasant anise fragrance when touched, too. Perennial in zones 8–10, treat as an annual or overwinter indoors in colder zones.

4. Cuphea ‘Honeybells’

Here’s another beauty just perfect for a hummingbird hanging basket. The semi-trailing stems of Cuphea ‘Honeybells’ spill over the edges of a suspended container, flowering from late spring till fall. There’s no need to deadhead this cigar plant as it’s self-cleaning, though you can pinch the stems to keep the plant from getting too leggy, if you like. And you’ll love the red-pink tubular blooms tipped in light yellow as much as hummingbirds do.

This variety likes consistent moisture so you’ll need to keep it watered, especially in a hanging basket: fix a watering wand, like this thumb-control design from Amazon, to your hose and it’s easy.

5. Fuchsia ‘Marinka’

This vigorous trailing cultivar is excellent in a hanging basket as stems cascade downwards with pendulous blooms. It’s particularly floriferous, too, blooming from June to October, and the flowers are single, allowing hummingbirds easy access to their nectar. That cherry-red color will draw hummers in from afar, and Fuchsia are a renowned for attracting hummingbirds.

Most plants that enjoy life in a hanging basket are sun-lovers but Fuchsia ‘Marinka’ is happier in partial to full shade. You don’t need to deadhead but if you do, the plant will put all its energy into growing more blooms rather than seeds – just make sure you snip off the berry-like seed pod at the flower base along with the petals.

A tender perennial in zones 8–11, treat as an annual in colder zones or overwinter indoors.

6. Firecracker Plant

Russelia Equisetiformis is an unusual plant for a hanging basket but its arching, trailing stems create a cascading fountain of color, so it’s a cracker! Hummingbirds are very fond of the scarlet tubular flowers that bloom from spring through fall on the slender stems.

This is a fast-growing subshrub so give it the biggest basket you can. It’s hardy in zones 9–11 where it thrives in the warm climate and can be grown as a perennial. In colder zones, move it indoors over winter, or grow as an annual.

7. Calibrachoa Eyeconic Cherry Blossom Improved

Hummingbirds will make a beeline for this calibrachoa cultivar as the wells in the centre of these trumpet-shaped flowers are such an electric color-pop of pink and yellow. Eyeconic Cherry Blossom Improved has been bred to have bigger flowers and exuberant growth, and its semi-trailing habit makes it a gorgeous choice for a hanging basket.

Calibrachoa are hybrids so they don’t produce seed, which means they flower continuously from spring to the first frost. There’s no need to deadhead but if you pinch off the growing tips of stems, you’ll encourage the plant to branch for lots more blooms.

This is a perennial in zones 9–11 but treat it as an annual in colder zones.