Tropical Plants for Hummingbirds

Hummingbird Bush

• The Hummingbird Bush is a shrub that grows 4 to 6 feet tall and wide. The plant is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 to 11 and is an ornamental perennial in Southern California, Florida, Arizona and Texas. You can grow the Hummingbird Bush as an annual in other planting zones and regions in the United States. The plant bears 2- to 3-inch long, orange-red colored tube-shaped flowers that hummingbirds find irresistible. The tubes form round-shaped clusters with yellow and chartreuse tips on the ends, hence other common names such as Firebush and Texas Firecracker.

Chinese Hat Plant

• Chinese Hat Plant is another great shrub-height tropical plant with common names that include Chinese Parasol Tree and Cup and Saucer. Chinese Hat Plant blooms with deep red, orange, yellow or rust-colored tropical-looking tubular flowers. When the flowers die off, the bracts remain and resemble small hats, hence the plant's "Chinese Hat" common name. In tropical areas where the weather stays warm and moist, the plant grows as an evergreen and blooms all year. In the United States, it is cold hardy in USDA hardiness zones 10b and 11 and thrives best in spots that get full sun to partial shade.

Chinese Hibiscus

• You can train a Chinese hibiscus to grow as a large shrub or a short tree for hummingbirds to flutter to and drink from the plant's nectar. Other common names include Hawaiian Hibiscus and Rose of China. Plants can grow 15-feet tall in areas where there's no frost. Flowers are large and fanciful and come in every color from white to red and pink to peach. Chinese hibiscus is believed to have originated in tropical areas of Asia. In the United States, the plant is hardy in USDA hardiness zones 9 to 10 and prefers full sun or partial shade locations. Chinese hibiscus can be grown as an annual or container plant in other zones.

Pink Flowering Maple

• Pink flowering maple is a member of the Abutilon species and a tropical-looking plant choice for attracting butterflies. The maple part of the name may have you thinking it is a tree, but that is not the case. Like other hummingbird-attracting tropical plants, the pink flowering maple is actually a tall-growing shrub that can grow 8 to 12 feet tall and wide. Flowers bloom from spring through summer with soft pink petals that droop downward, providing hummingbirds easy access to the nectar. Pink flowering maple is cold hardy in USDA hardiness zones 9 through 11. Leaves are evergreen. This plant can also be trained to grow in containers.