How to Plant a Feast for Hummingbirds

BY ANN LITREL

In early April 2021, I walked into my yard with my nature journal and was intrigued to find three showy red flowers, native to Georgia.

1. Eastern columbine is a woodland flower that raises bright crownshaped blossoms over blue-green leaves. Self-seeding, my patch has grown over the years.

2. Crossvine, also known as trumpet flower, drapes my driveway trellis with huge red-orange blossoms in spring. A climbing vine, it needs space, and a vigorous pruning after flowering.

3. Red buckeye is a small tree with plumes of red flowers. It lights up a woodsy spot in spring and loses its leaves in late summer (normal for a young buckeye).

I keep a nature journal because I’m an artist, but even more because I am wildly curious about nature and how plants and creatures work together. My nature journal encourages me to look and ask questions.

When I saw these three red flowers in bloom, I wondered, why? Then, I spied a ruby-throated hummingbird darting in and out of the crossvine on my trellis, feeding at blossom after blossom.

Aha! This was the week the little bird had arrived on its migration from Mexico. Nature had timed her hummingbird favorites to bloom just when the exhausted little traveler needed refueling.

These three flowers don’t just feed hummingbirds. They provide a link in the food chain that hummingbird feeders do not: Their leaves are host foods for the caterpillars of numerous moths. Among them are some of our largest and most beautiful.

Eastern columbine is a larval host plant for the pink patched and looper moths. Crossvine is a host for sphinx and hawk moths. And red buckeye is a host for the huge and gorgeous luna, polyphemus and imperial moths.

I had wondered why I sometimes see the ghostly, pale-green luna moth in my yard. Perhaps my red buckeye is the reason! Adding plants to your yard that host butterfly and moth caterpillars helps your songbirds immeasurably. Caterpillars are the most important food for baby songbirds, which cannot eat seeds. There is no need to worry about defoliation from the caterpillars; the damage is normally minimal and not noticeable.

I’ve learned to roll my eyes at the label “deer-resistant,” used for numerous plants. However, in the case of these three, I can vouch that the claims are true. Over the years, they have continued to flourish in my yard despite Towne Lake’s roving herds.

If you’re a fan of our community’s beautiful natural environment and its songbirds, try restoring a little piece of nature to your yard with these three natives – they can bring you, your children and grandchildren many seasons of enjoyment.