Attract Hummingbirds With A Flowering Ground Cover They Love

Hummingbirds love quite a few flowers, especially those with tubular shapes and tasty nectar. Though it's possible to design a garden to attract hummingbirds, you may need your landscaping to serve other purposes as well. If weed control, soil enhancement, and erosion prevention are some of your top priorities, search for ground cover plants that happen to appeal to hummingbirds. Several flowering ground covers produce nectar that these pixie-like creatures can't resist. Barren strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides) is one example. In addition to bringing hummingbirds to your yard, it can boost your neighborhood's biodiversity. Its yellow flowers draw bees and butterflies, its seeds feed songbirds that nest nearby, and its thick foliage can discourage invasive weeds from taking root.

As a fast-growing perennial that creeps across the ground, barren strawberry makes an ideal ground cover. It can handle frost, so it's hardy as far north as USDA hardiness zone 3. At the same time, it's not wild about heat, so its growing range stops at zone 8. Once it has adapted to local conditions, it can manage a mild drought. Full-grown plants may be as tall as 6 inches and as wide as 18 inches. Barren strawberry isn't fussy about soil texture, but it prefers a growing site that's slightly acidic and good at draining excess water. It's also not very particular about light, accepting full sun or partial shade. This low-maintenance beauty's flowers may bloom anywhere between March and July depending on where you live. When they do, get ready for an influx of hummingbirds.

Barren strawberry isn't closely related to the strawberries people grow in their gardens (Fragaria x ananassa), but hummingbirds don't mind. They're all about this ground cover's cheery yellow flowers, which emerge from mats of lobed leaves that look like those of true strawberry plants. Hummingbirds locate these flowers and other favorites with their incredible sense of sight, which helps them notice details that humans can't see. Brightly colored blossoms — especially orange, pink, red, and yellow ones — tend to capture their attention. These birds also have powerful memories that help them recall where the best flowers are located. To a hummingbird, a great flower is one with lots of sugar in its nectar.

The hummingbirds and plants that are native to your area have adapted to meet each other's needs. Since barren strawberry is indigenous to much of North America, it has evolved to support the well-being of North American hummingbirds. This makes it a good replacement for non-native ground covers such as periwinkle (Vinca minor). Though hummingbirds like periwinkle, this plant has aggressive tendencies and a history of crowding out native plants that local creatures need to survive. Barren strawberry establishes itself rapidly without harming its ecosystem in this way.