which daylilies attract hummingbirds

I've seen them around my daylilies but I don't think they feed on them much if at all. I have seen them perch on the buds with their little feet curled around which is rather cute! I know some articles/books suggest daylilies for attracting hummers but I think you would have better luck with things like Cuphea, Fuchsia, Hosta, Nepeta and even scarlet runner beans in my experience, especially the Cuphea.

Interesting question. I hope we get some replies with good suggestions.

In my gardens, although I have seen hummingbirds at my daylilies, it's kind of rare, and I didn't think to note if there is a spedific daylily they like.

I was going to joke and answer any daylily strong enough to support a hummingbird feeder, but now I really want to know if there are any daylilies that are known to tbe hummingbird friendly.

I do like to have hummingbird friendly plants in all my gardens, so maybe that's why I don't see them in the daylilies very consistently. There is a silene plant with red flowers that really gets a lot of visits. And pink tall phlox gets a lot of visits.

I also get hummingbirds down in the garden, but I never feel they are being attracted to the daylilies except out of curiosity.

My cannas, and salvias get the most hummingbird action in my yard. I have some daylily, think it's like Larry said, more of a curiosity.

They like small trumpet-shaped flowers, especially red ones. They love my crocosmia and my ornamental pomegranate. I have one more shrub, a firespike, that grows all summer, blooms in the fall/ winter, and then dies back after the first frost. It has very long, narrow red trumpet blooms that the hummingbirds love. This shrub is not suitable for northern zones, unfortunately.

We 'operate' our property (Central Ontario Canada), with our daylily garden, as close to being a natural site as we are practically able to do so. With 33 years here we've logged over 100 species of birds here with our varied terrain and landscape. (In the midst of typical varied farm country plus a natural wildlife corridor with a sizeable brook running its length nearby.)

We feed thru the full year (Our offer varies/changes thru the seasons) to both attract & to provide sustenance for any birds that seek it hereabouts. We always have at least one hummingbird feeder 'out there' & every hummingbird season (April thru September (October?) we always have a few hummers around here.

Occasionally I've noticed a hummer among our daylilies, BUT I would say that daylilies are of little interest to them here. As already expressed elsewhere here by others, they seem to prefer especially reddish blooms, small blooms, like snapdragons, red geraniums (Pelargoniums), weigela, quince'; honeysuckle-vine, crabapple blossoms, and similar, as they seek out nectar & hunt insects.

Bottom line? .... Plant the daylilies for yourself AND a selection of other blooming plants for your hummingbirds.

I have to agree with the others, I see an occasional hummingbird on my orange sulphur cosmos and honeysuckle vine 'Dropmore Scarlet', but I've never seen one on a daylily. Many times, they are hovering around my self-seeding, old-fashioned petunias by the patio, but I usually don't have my camera handy to even try to get a picture.
Sulphur Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus)
Brown's Honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa 'Dropmore Scarlet')

Honeysuckle and the forsaken Trumpet Vine that my DW loves are hummingbird magnet. I try to plant a mixture of plants and vines, Cardinal Climber among others to keep them coming back year after year. I second the red Canna sightings. I have a Penstemon that they love also. Tim did you get a chance to plant those seeds that you got from that one ?

My best plants for hummingbirds are HUMMINGBIRD FOREST FIRE and SUMMER JEWEL RED (salvia coccinea) purchased as annual seeds from Swallowtail Seeds:
https://www.swallowtailgardens...
You only have to plant them once because they reseed themselves for next year. Hummingbirds nest in my yard and the small red flowers are favorites of the youngsters! They are also favorites of goldfinches who pick thru spent blooms to eat the tiny seeds.

Lyshack said: I was going to joke and answer any daylily strong enough to support a hummingbird feeder, but now I really want to know if there are any daylilies that are known to tbe hummingbird friendly.

Tim! I have to agree. All the flower-visiting mostly seems like an instinctive time-killer between visits to the feeders.

I agree with Judy that red salvia is awesome. We are growing scarlet sage this year. They are strongly attracted to red and dark/bright orange blooms. I have seen hummers trying very hard to get nectar from the throat of Firebird Suite as it has screaming orange/red color, but I'm not sure about the level of success. Bees and butterflies, on the other hand, find yellow ones more inviting.

Lucifer Crocosmia is very popular with hummers as it is both red and tubular, which reigns. I have a hummer who guards the Cleome amongst the daylilies every evening and fusses at me when I am working nearby. Hummers also hang out near the Anise Hyssop that self-sows in our daylily field. ALL the pollinators go crazy for that Agastache.

A few weeks ago, it was charming to see a female hummer near the Cleome, collecting fluff from weed seeds to use in late-summer nesting. One of the few silver linings in having a scruffy garden from a well-watered summer.

I usually have 9 to 11 feeders up for our mob. They love the Honeysuckle, Crocosmia, Beebalm, Butterfly bushes and the Hosta blooms. The Daylilies do their part also. They attract the insects that Hummingbirds feed on. They don't just need nectar.

Good point, Tina! That's very true. And I imagine that even wet spent daylily blooms attract little insects that get snapped up.

I love knowing that you have that many feeders! I have a mere 5 feeders and it's awesome that you have twice as many. Enthusiastic hummer fans!

@Hembrain stay with 5 if you're smart. The more feeders, the more come. But I just can't stop.

@beenthere there are plenty worse things to do with our time and money!