What's More Important than Flower Choices?

 The most common question I get asked is, "Which flowers attract hummingbirds"? 
     There are many that attract them, and 13 different hardiness zones which allow us hundreds of choices all depending where you live, and this only covers the perennials. Then we have many annuals to consider. There are so many choices all around, but there's one thing that matters even more, and that's quantity. 
     If you have a small area to work with, you want to make the best use of it. Select the hummingbird flowers that are most effective and plant in masses. I have planted 10 or more large clusters of Delphiniums in my garden, and this allows many young hummingbirds to feed around my yard at any given time, and with large clusters it keeps them busy for a very long time. Hummingbirds can tire out very quickly from flower feeding and will rarely go beyond a few minutes without taking a rest, so if you can keep a hummingbird in a patch of flowers for a few minutes, you know you have a winner of a flower.
Juvenile Ruby-throated hummingbird. N.E. of Edmonton, Alberta. 2015

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