There are many plants that are attractive to the beautiful little hummingbird.This makes the job of choosing which to plant in your yard much easier. You can narrow down your selection by determining which plants do well for your climate. This can be done by checking with your local nursery or by doing a search for the name online.

Once you have pared the list down to your climate, you can then start looking at specific characteristics. Does the plant require full sun, partial shade, dry soil or lots of water? Is it an annual or perennial? Depending on how much space you have in your yard, you may also have to consider the potential size of the plant.

Here is a small list of attention getting hummingbird plants that hummingbirds can't resist.

• Bee balm (Monarda didyma)
• Butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii)
• Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
• Cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit)
• Delphiniums (Delphinium spp.)
• Gilia (Ipomopsis spp.)
• Impatiens, red-orange (Impatiens wallerana)
• Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia)
• Penstemons (Penstemon spp.)
• Red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum)
• Red-flowered salvias (Salvia elegans); (S. splendens); S. coccinea)
• Trumpetvine (Campsis radicans)

Many of these plants can be containerized if you have limited space and planted along the edge of a patio or porch deck to bring in the bright jewel-like hummingbirds that I call Nature's Helicopter.

I have read stories of hummingbirds feeding at flowerboxes in the middle of busy cities. That is only one of the amazing traits of these gregarious, pugnacious birds and another of the reasons I find them so fascinating.

For a more complete list of plants and trees, download and print out this PDF file from the University of Florida/Brevard County Extention Service. It contains native Florida plants as well as non-native.