A wide variety of state perennials can increase your home’s selling price by adding season-long beauty, and with careful selection, the blooms will serve as a magnet for hummingbirds. (Photo: Pexels).
With outdoor living at its height of desirability, homes with beautiful flowers attract prospective home buyers as well as Colorado’s winged wonders that dart into view sometime in late April – hummingbirds.
A wide variety of state perennials can increase your home’s selling price by adding season-long beauty, and with careful selection, the blooms will serve as a magnet for hummingbirds.
According to Homes & Gardens, a nicely landscaped, low maintenance garden boosts curb appeal and can add up to 10% to your home’s value. Even a few hundred dollars spent on colorful annuals return your investment. Pots of flowers dress up your porch and entryways providing instant curb appeal.
Excellent hummingbird flowers offer rich nectar in tubular-shaped flowers and are the color red – hummingbirds’ favorite color. Here are some ideal flowers for Boulder County growing zones of 5B to 6a, as described by BirdWatchingHQ.com.
Fire King Crocosmia
These long tubular fiery orange and red flowers grow on gracefully arching stems that arise from an attractive sword-shaped foliage. Fire Kings grow to 24 inches high in full sun or partial shade and bloom early to mid-summer. Deer resistant and bee friendly, hummingbirds love to visit these strikingly beautiful, attention-grabbing flowers.
Red Cardinal Flower
Another vibrant red tubular that grows to about 36 inches, the Red Cardinal Flower, is gorgeous when in bloom from July to September and an excellent addition to any backyard hummingbird flower garden. The flowers are too long for most insects to access the nectar, leaving it for the hummingbirds to feast on. It grows best in moist, partially shady areas.
Agastache
Also called hummingbird mint, Agastache grows to 4-5 feet tall in full sun and produces brilliant blue blooms from June to September. It serves as a magnet for hummingbirds, butterflies, and pollinating bees, but the mild, minty licorice scent arising from its leaves and stems keeps rabbits and deer away — making it the perfect plant for Boulder County yards.
Pentas
This 4-foot tall, star-shaped beauty’s dark pink varieties are best for attracting hummingbirds. Pentas are easy to grow, thrive in hot weather and are sturdy in drought. They are considered to be an annual flower continuously from spring to autumn and work well for patio planters, baskets, and borders.
Phlox
This plant grows in bushes or clusters up to 4 feet tall and 1 foot wide with brilliant shades of red, pink, salmon, lavender, and white that bloom all summer long. Phlox is susceptible to powdery mildew, so you’ll want to get a variety that has been bred as resistant to this ailment. Full sun and zones 4-8 are needed.
Columbine
Every Boulder garden should feature the lovely state flower of Colorado. The lovely blooms arrive in May when the hummingbirds return. Columbine grows well in shade and reaches a height of 3 feet. Plus, insects have difficulty getting the nectar.
Zinnia
A member of the sunflower family, Zinnia produces bright round blooms with many petals. Pollinators enjoy the flower’s large landing area and plentiful pollen and hummingbirds love the nectar. Shorter than sunflowers, they grow to 1-3 feet tall, bloom from May to October and thrive in full sun and well-drained soil.
Petunias
An easy to grow annual, petunias offer a variety of sizes and colors and continual blooming from April to October in full or partial sun. Deep, tubular flowers offer a cup of nectar or water for hummingbirds, butterflies and bees. Petunias are the perfect addition to garden beds or pots.
Impatiens
The beauty of impatiens is their ability to flower all summer in a shady spot. Similar to petunias in colors and plentiful blooms, they offer a show of color from April to June under the partial shade of a tree or house eave.
To see more perfect plants for your hummingbird garden see the full article at birdwatchinghq.com/hummingbird-flowers-in-colorado/
By Tom Kalinski. Tom is the broker/owner of RE/MAX of Boulder, the local residential real estate company he established in 1977. He was inducted into Boulder County’s Business Hall of Fame in 2016 and has a 40-year background in commercial and residential real estate. For questions, email Tom at [email protected], call 303.441.5620, or visit boulderco.com.
