9 Flowering Shrubs That Turn a Boring Yard Into a Hummingbird Highway by June

9 Flowering Shrubs That Turn a Boring Yard Into a Hummingbird Highway by June

May 28, 2026

One morning your yard may feel empty, but come June, with the right flowering shrubs, you’ll be buzzing with hummingbird traffic. Bold tubular blooms excitedly attract these little birds as they provide lots of nectar. Hummingbirds quickly find these flowers and will keep visiting them throughout the season to harvest the nectar.

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Upright scarlet sage plants with bright red tubular flower clusters rising above green foliage in a sunny garden bed, with a hummingbird approaching one of the open blooms. — Photo: Depositphotos

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Scarlet sage will reward you with a lovely experience without you doing much to help. Their bright red tubular flowers are favored by hummingbirds. The unique flower structure allows them to hover and sip without having to fight through dense foliage. With the open cluster arrangement and reliable access to nectar, they can easily get to it.

When purchasing plants, search for the name Salvia coccinea or the common name “tropical sage.” They can be expected to display upright or mounding habits reaching anywhere between 1 to 3 feet tall and approximately the same width. The blooms range from scarlet to coral and some varieties produce white flowers. The plant can live in full sun, partial shade, and prefers well-drained soil. While officially considered hardy in zones 7 to 11, it is often cultivated as an annual in more northern areas.

Beginning gardeners will love that scarlet sage reseeds freely! They self-plant which means that when fall comes, they will drop seeds and return as volunteers the following spring. This means your yard will have a consistent population of this plant with little to no effort on your part, even in small yards and container gardens!

Try This: Plant two or three of these shrubs in a loose cluster rather than spacing them out individually across your yard. Hummingbirds are territorial and tend to set up a feeding route once they find a reliable spot. A small concentration of nectar plants in one area gives them a reason to keep coming back to the same corner of your yard, which means you’ll actually see them more often from wherever you like to sit outside.

While one yard alone won’t attract every hummingbird species, using a combination of red, tubular, and consistently nectar-rich flowers will attract hummingbirds that are passing through your area. Just planting 2-3 of these and by early summer you will notice the difference.