Quick Answer
Most hummingbird bushes are perennials in zones 7-10. This means they will come back year after year in warmer climates, but may die back to the ground in colder zones. Some popular perennial hummingbird bushes include:
- Fuchsia
- Coral honeysuckle
- Trumpet creeper
- Salvia
Annual hummingbird bushes like nasturtium and petunias will need to be replanted each year. Choosing perennials allows hummingbird gardeners to establish reliable food sources that last for years.
What Defines a Perennial Plant?
Perennials are plants that live for multiple growing seasons. While annuals complete their entire lifecycle in one season, perennials regrow from their root system year after year.
There are a few key traits that define perennials:
- They have structures that allow them to survive winter, such as hardy roots, tubers, or rhizomes.
- Their above ground growth dies back at the end of each season, but the roots remain alive.
- In spring, new top growth emerges again from the surviving roots and stems.
- This growth-die back-regrowth cycle can go on indefinitely, allowing the plant to live for many years.
So in simple terms, if a plant comes back on its own year after year, it is likely a perennial. Annuals will require replanting from seed or transplants to grow again.
Perennial Plant Structures
Perennials have specialized underground structures that allow them to overwinter after top growth has died back. Common perennial survival structures include:
- Taproots – Large, central roots that store food and energy over winter. Examples: coneflowers, salvias, coreopsis.
- Rhizomes – Horizontal, underground stems that generate new shoots and roots. Examples: irises, canna lilies, gingers.
- Tubers – Enlarged stems or roots that store nutrients over winter. Examples: dahlias, cannas.
- Root crowns – Compacted stem tissue at soil level. Examples: perennial geraniums, penstemons.
- Bulbs – Food storage organs made of fleshy leaves. Examples: tulips, daffodils, alliums.
These specialized structures allow the plant to survive cold weather, store energy, and regenerate new growth in spring.
Why Choose Perennial Hummingbird Plants?
There are several advantages to choosing perennial plants for your hummingbird garden:
- They provide a reliable, recurring food source year after year.
- Established plants are fuller, larger, and often flower more profusely.
- Mature plantings require less maintenance than replanting annuals.
- Root systems continue expanding deeper over time.
- They support early and late season pollinators when annuals aren’t in bloom.
- Plantings can be designed for continuous bloom through the seasons.
Annual plants certainly have their uses too, especially for fast color, but perennials form the backbone of a mature garden. Once established, they provide consistent nectar flow season after season.
Designing With Perennials
The key to great perennial plantings is selecting varieties with staggered and extended bloom times. For example:
- Spring: bleeding heart, columbine, penstemon
- Early summer: coral honeysuckle, salvia
- Mid summer: monarda, agastache
- Late summer: fuchsia, turtlehead
- Fall: sedum, asters
Layering perennials with different bloom times ensures you have flowers all season. Add some well-chosen annuals to fill any gaps.
Popular Perennial Hummingbird Bushes
Many hummingbird favorites are herbaceous perennials. Here are some top choices:
Fuchsia
Fuchsias are shrubby plants with dangling, tubular flowers in shades of red, purple, and pink. Hundreds of hybrid varieties offer single or double blooms from summer until frost. Some hardy varieties can survive winters in zones 7-9.
Coral Honeysuckle
This vining honeysuckle offers clusters of bright red-orange blooms from early summer through fall. It is hardy in zones 4-11 and does well climbing trellises or spilling from pots and baskets. Hummers love the tubular flowers.
Trumpet Creeper
Trumpet creeper vine has bold, orange-red trumpet-shaped blooms loved by hummers. Vigorous growth needs sturdy support. Hardy in zones 4-9. Can become invasive in warmer zones. Needs full sun.
Salvia
Salvias include nearly 1,000 species. Many have spires of tubular flowers irresistible to hummingbirds. Pineapple sage, August sage, scarlet sage, and Mexican bush sage are great choices. Most salvias prefer full sun.
Columbine
Columbines produce clusters of nectar-rich, spurred blooms in shades of red, yellow, pink, purple, and white. They thrive in partly shaded gardens. Hardy in zones 3-9 depending on variety. Reseeds freely.
Other Great Perennial Choices
- Cardinal flower
- Bee balm
- Foxglove
- Penstemon
- Perennial geranium
- Lobelia
- Sage
- Turtlehead
- Blazing star
- Catmint
- Caryopteris
- Blanket flower
- Cigar flower
- Verbena
- Weigela
- Butterfly bush
Are Hummingbird Vines Perennial?
Many vines that attract hummingbirds are hardy, durable perennials, including:
- Trumpet creeper
- Trumpet honeysuckle
- Coral honeysuckle
- Crossvine
- Morning glory (some species)
- Passionflower
- Virginia creeper
These vigorous climbers add vertical structure to the garden. Once established, most will return each year and climb quickly with support. Provide sturdy trellises, fences, or arbors for them to grow on.
Annual vines like hyacinth bean vine, scarlet runner bean, and cardinal climber are great seasonal alternatives.
Caring for Perennial Vines
- Prune lightly after flowering to encourage new growth.
- Cut back any overly aggressive shoots as needed.
- Mulch around the root zone to help retain moisture.
- Water during dry periods, especially while establishing.
- Apply organic fertilizer in early spring.
- Provide strong supports for vigorous growth.
Are Nasturtiums Perennial?
No, nasturtiums are not perennials. They are fast-growing annuals in zones 2-11 that complete their entire lifecycle in one season.
Nasturtiums produce edible flowers and leaves with a spicy, peppery flavor. The brightly colored blooms also attract hummingbirds.
While individual plants only last a single season, nasturtiums readily self-seed if flowerheads are allowed to develop seeds. Scattering these seedheads around the garden in fall results in new volunteer seedlings the following spring. This gives the impression of perennial behavior.
For colder climates, collecting seeds to replant each year ensures an annual supply of nasturtiums. Their fast, mounding growth makes them ideal for containers, beds, and borders.
Other popular annual hummingbird flowers include:
- Petunias
- Marigolds
- Zinnias
- Nicotiana
- Cardinal climbers
- Morning glories
Pair annuals with perennials for nonstop bloom in your hummingbird garden.
Perennial Shrubs for Hummingbirds
In addition to perennial flowers, some woody shrubs provide essential habitat and nectar for hummingbirds. Evergreen shrubs are especially useful for providing food through winter and early spring when other flowers are dormant.
Popular perennial, hummer-loving shrubs include:
Butterfly Bush
Butterfly bushes producedense, cone-shaped flower spikes in colors like purple, pink, red and yellow. Blooms from summer until frost. Deciduous. Hardy in zones 5-9. May self-seed aggressively.
Rose of Sharon
An upright, vase-shaped shrub with large, tubular summer flowers. Hardy in zones 5-9. Prune in late winter to encourage blooms.
Weigela
Weigela has clusters of trumpet-shaped flowers in shades of pink, red and white. Blooms heaviest in spring with some rebloom. Deciduous. Zones 4-8.
Caryopteris
This compact shrub has fuzzy, blue-green foliage and dense clusters of blue flowers in late summer and fall. Hardy in zones 5-9.
Other Perennial Shrubs
- Abelia
- Bluebeard (Caryopteris)
- Beautyberry
- Coralberry
- Flowering quince
- Rose
- Red twig dogwood
For early season blooms, plant deciduous shrubs. Evergreen varieties provide winter food sources when insects are scarce.
Are Petunias Perennials?
Petunias are tender annuals or short-lived perennials grown as annuals in most climates. However, some species and varieties have a perennial nature if conditions are ideal.
Petunia Types
There are 3 main petunia types:
- Grandiflora – Large blooms on mounded plants. Not perennial.
- Multiflora – Profuse small flowers held above foliage. Some perennial species.
- Milliflora – Miniature blooms. Recently hybridized. Not perennial.
Multiflora petunias include some perennial species such as P. integrifolia and P. inflata. These have higher tolerance for cool climates but are still treated as annuals in most regions.
Recent Petchoa hybrids like ‘SuperCal’ also display a more perennial habit. However, their longevity has not been thoroughly tested.
Growing as Annuals
While technically perennial, multiflora petunias rarely survive more than one year in cultivation. Factors like excessive rain, high humidity, and freezing temperatures increase the risk of root rot and other issues.
For reliable performance, it is best to treat all garden petunias as annuals and replant them each year. Use perennial petunias only in very mild zones or as houseplants.
Caring for Perennial Species
In ideal conditions, multiflora perennial petunias may survive 2-3 years. Give them the best chance with:
- Excellent drainage
- Loose, sandy soil
- Full sun
- Thinning and trimming to prevent lodging
- Clean-up of dead leaves/debris
- Winter mulch in cold zones
- Delayed spring pruning until new growth emerges
Focus on promoting healthy roots and crown tissue to enhance winter hardiness. Cover with mulch after fall frosts for added protection.
Conclusion
When designing a hummingbird garden, focus on adding hardy, long-blooming perennials as anchor plants. Augment them with drifts of annuals for nonstop color.
Perennial flowers, vines and shrubs form the backbone of the garden. Once established, they require minimal care while providing reliable sanctuary and food year after year.
Select a variety of perennials with sequential and extended flowering periods. This ensures nectar availability for hummingbirds from early spring through late fall.
While annuals certainly have their place for fast color, perennials are the unsung heroes of the hummingbird garden. Choosing mostly perennial plants allows you to create a nearly self-sustaining habitat that hummers will faithfully return to year upon year.
Summary Table of Common Hummingbird Perennials
| Type | Examples | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Flowers | Columbine, Bee Balm, Lobelia, Fuchsia | Spring, Summer, Fall |
| Vines | Trumpet Creeper, Coral Honeysuckle, Passionflower | Summer, Fall |
| Shrubs | Butterfly Bush, Abelia, Caryopteris | Summer, Fall |
