There’s nothing quite like seeing hummingbirds dance around your Pennsylvania garden, and the right flowers make it happen. I’ve planted many varieties over the years, and a few vibrant blooms seem to catch their attention every time.
These flowers don’t just add color—they invite lively, flitting visitors that make your yard feel magical. With a few smart choices, your garden can stay buzzing with activity all season.
Let’s discover the flowers that bring hummingbirds to Pennsylvania yards.
1. Cardinal Flower
Brilliant red spikes create a natural beacon for hummingbirds in Pennsylvania gardens. The tubular flowers perfectly match a hummingbird’s bill shape, making nectar collection easy and efficient.
Native to the Keystone State’s moist areas, cardinal flowers thrive in partial shade and bloom from July through September. Their dramatic vertical form adds structure while serving as prime feeding stations.
2. Bee Balm
Wild-haired and vibrant, these shaggy blooms create an irresistible landing pad for tiny visitors. The nectar-rich tubes hidden within the crown of petals offer a sweet reward for hungry hummingbirds.
Pennsylvania gardeners appreciate bee balm’s adaptability to various soil conditions. Also known as Monarda, these native perennials spread enthusiastically, creating colorful patches that hummers can spot from impressive distances.
3. Trumpet Vine
Dramatic orange trumpets announce dinner is served to passing hummingbirds. The flared tubular shape perfectly accommodates their long bills and provides an abundance of sweet nectar throughout summer.
Pennsylvania gardeners should plant this vigorous climber with caution near structures. Its spectacular growth can cover arbors and fences within seasons, creating living hummingbird feeding stations that bloom from June through September.
4. Columbine
Delicate spurred flowers dangle like tiny lanterns, inviting hummingbirds to hover beneath them. The unusual shape with backward-pointing nectar spurs creates perfect feeding tubes for their specialized bills.
Pennsylvania’s native columbine thrives in woodland edges and rocky areas. These spring bloomers offer early-season nectar when many other hummingbird plants haven’t yet flowered, making them especially valuable in a wildlife garden.
5. Coral Bells
Tiny bell-shaped flowers dance on slender stems above attractive foliage. Though small individually, these blooms appear in such profusion that they create impressive feeding stations for Pennsylvania’s hungry hummingbirds.
The Keystone State’s gardeners value coral bells for their shade tolerance and year-round attractive leaves. Their delicate flower spires appear in late spring, offering nectar at a crucial time when hummingbirds are establishing territories.
6. Penstemon
Rows of tubular blooms line tall stems, creating vertical feeding stations perfect for hovering hummingbirds. The flowers open progressively from bottom to top, ensuring a long period of nectar availability.
Pennsylvania gardens benefit from penstemon’s drought tolerance once established. These native perennials come in various colors, though the red varieties prove most magnetic to hummingbirds searching for their next meal across the landscape.
7. Foxglove
Spotted throats guide hummingbirds into these perfect tubular flowers like runway lights. The deep bell shape allows birds to insert their bills fully while hovering, accessing the sweet nectar reward inside.
Though not native to Pennsylvania, foxgloves thrive in the state’s gardens with proper conditions. These dramatic biennials self-seed readily, creating multi-year displays that reach impressive heights and attract hummingbirds from considerable distances.
8. Salvia
Spikes of intensely colored tubular blooms create vertical feeding stations that hummingbirds can’t resist. The nectar-rich flowers produce exactly what these high-energy birds need to fuel their incredible metabolism.
Pennsylvania gardeners have many salvia varieties to choose from, both annual and perennial. Their extended blooming season, especially with deadheading, ensures hummingbirds have a reliable food source throughout much of their residence in the Keystone State.
9. Weigela
Fountain-like branches covered in tubular pink blooms create a hummingbird paradise. The trumpet-shaped flowers appear in such profusion that they transform the entire shrub into a feeding station.
Pennsylvania landscapes benefit from weigela’s hardiness and reliability. These low-maintenance shrubs bloom heavily in late spring with a lighter repeat in summer, providing nectar during the crucial early season when hummingbirds first arrive in the state.
10. Phlox
Clusters of star-shaped flowers form a landing pad of color that catches both human and hummingbird eyes. Though not tubular, these blooms produce abundant nectar that attracts a variety of pollinators.
Pennsylvania’s native woodland phlox and garden varieties thrive throughout the state. Their sweet fragrance may not matter to hummingbirds, but their nectar-rich flowers certainly do, especially the bright pink and red varieties that signal a meal from across the garden.
11. Honeysuckle
Fragrant tubular blooms offer sweet nectar rewards perfect for hummingbird bills. The long, slender flowers seem designed specifically for these aerial acrobats to access while hovering.
Pennsylvania gardeners should choose native honeysuckle varieties rather than invasive Asian types. Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) provides both beautiful blooms and valuable habitat, supporting hummingbirds throughout the growing season in the Keystone State.
12. Zinnia
Bright, easy-to-grow blooms create a buffet of color that hummingbirds can spot from far away. While not tubular, these flowers produce sufficient nectar to attract hummers while offering easy landing spots.
Pennsylvania summer gardens benefit from zinnias’ heat tolerance and continuous bloom. Simply scatter seeds after frost danger passes, and these annuals will reward you with months of color and hummingbird visits throughout the hottest months.
13. Fuchsia
Dangling jewel-like blooms swing in the slightest breeze, catching hummingbird attention. The unique pendant flowers with their contrasting colors create perfect feeding tubes for specialized bills.
Though not winter-hardy in most of Pennsylvania, fuchsias make exceptional container plants. Hanging baskets placed near windows offer close-up hummingbird viewing opportunities, as these tiny birds hover to sip nectar from the distinctive drooping flowers.