Twenty Years Ago
Since January 2014, Whatcom Watch has been reprinting articles from issues printed 20 years ago. The below article appeared in the June2005 issue of Whatcom Watch.
by Susan Taylor
Hummingbirds prefer natural sources of nectar to prepared sugar solutions. Use native trees, shrubs and wildflowers. Our local wildlife has evolved in association with our local native plants. There is a mutual need or interdependence between plants and hummingbirds. As the hummer pushes its bill inside the flower to lick the nectar it needs, it rubs against stamens and pistils. This pollen is then deposited on the next flower. The flower requires a pollinator. The bird needs a source of high energy nectar.
The perfect hummingbird flower has long, tube-shaped blooms. Single flowers usually have more nectar and the nectar is more accessible than in double flowers. There is usually no platform on which to land and feed as with flowers that attract butterflies. The flowers should be widely spaced along the stem to accommodate whirring wings since the hummingbird does not land to feed. Native wildflowers fit all of these requirements.
Note: the ‘spp.’ after the genus name means that there are multiple species of that genus that are considered good hummingbird plants.
Spring-Blooming Native Shrubs and Vines
Red-Flowering Currant Ribes sanguineum.
Indian Plum Oemleria cerasiformis.
Salmonberry Rubus spectabilis.
Trumpet Honeysuckle Lonicera ciliosa.
Spring-Blooming Native Perennials
Camas Camassia spp.
Bleeding Heart Dicentra formosa.
Iris Iris spp.
Cluster Lily Brodiaea congesta.
Trout Lily Erythronium oreganum.
Chocolate Lily Fritillaria lanceolata.
Prairie Smoke Geum trifloru.
Blue-Eyed Grass Sisyrinchium spp.
Summer-Blooming Native Shrubs and Vines
Mock Orange Philadelphus lewisii.
Ocean Spray Holodiscus discolor.
Birchleaf Spiraea Spiraea betulifolia.
Hairy Honeysuckle Lonicera hispidula.
Summer-Blooming Native Perennials
Nodding Onion Allium cernuum.
Sea Thrift Armeria maritima.
Lupine Lupinus spp.
Wild Bergamot Monarda fistulosa.
Sitka Columbine Aquilegia formosa.
Monkeyflower Mimulus spp.
Penstemons Penstemon spp.
Harsh Paintbrush Castilleja hispida.
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Susan Taylor is co-owner of Wildside Growers & Landscaping. The nursery specializes in Pacific Northwest native wildflowers and shrubs.
