Picture a garden filled with colorful flowering plants with hummingbirds hovering about.
Now imagine that this garden is located in a small space against the backdrop of the red rocks of Sedona, Arizona and you have paradise.
Beds filled with flowering perennials are my favorite element of gardens. Their appearance changes month to month as blooming transitions from one type of perennial to the other.
So, I was delighted to see that this hummingbird paradise was filled with beds filled with blooms of every color.
What I liked about the first perennial bed that I first saw was its curved edge, brightly colored wall in the back and the colorful tiles, which highlighted the flower colors.
A single purple-flowering, Chihuahuan sage(Leucophyllum laevigatum) anchored the corner of the bed with its height. The purple flowers provided great color contrast with the blanket flower, coneflower, salvias and yarrow.
Coral Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii ‘Coral)
Some of my favorite hummingbird plants were growing in the garden. Salvias are quite frankly, hummingbird magnets and grow beautifully in arid climates.
Salvia microphylla ‘Lipstick’
While most Salvia species grow well in full sun – if you live in the low-desert, they will do best when planted in filtered shade.
Salvia greggii ‘Purple’
When deciding what types of plants to add to your garden that will attract hummingbirds – salvias are a sure thing.
The deck was paved with flagstone and had two separate planting beds. Even though each planting area wasn’t large, the plant palette was not limited since there are many perennials that don’t grow overly large, so the homeowners were able to fit in a lot of colorful plants in the confined spaces.
In the second perennial bed, two different colored hummingbird mint (Agastache spp.) plants provide height and anchor each end of the bed. The sunny colors of blanket flower fill the middle.
Again, a brightly-colored wall adds to the beauty of this area.
The flowers of hummingbird mint (also known as hyssop) are simply irresistible to hummingbirds.
Besides producing pretty flowers and attracting hummingbirds, these perennials are drought tolerant, love hot/dry spaces, can be grown in zones 5-10 and are deer and rabbit resistant. They bloom summer to fall.
Blanket flower (Gaillardia spp.) come in a multitude of warm colors with shades or red, yellow and orange.
This colorful plant thrives in sunny spaces and attracts butterflies.
You’ll find this perennial growing in a wide range of gardens from zones 3 – 10.
The homeowners made the most out of their small garden space by creating a painted ‘garden’ along a previously blank wall.
Hummingbirds weren’t bothered by us and they hovered by the hummingbird mint and salvia flowers enjoying a drink of nectar.
This special garden is a wonderful example of how a garden limited on space can be used to create a lovely hummingbird paradise.
**For more information on plants that will attract hummingbirds to your Southwest garden, I recommend Hummingbird Plants of the Southwest.
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