The Hanging Basket Flower That Will Fill Your Yard With Hummingbirds

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Spotting a hummingbird is a sign that spring has sprung. Once they arrive in your yard, they work their magic as brightly-colored pollinators. You can bring hummingbirds into your garden with hummingbird feeders or lots of bright red, orange, and pink flowers. If you want to create a hanging basket arrangement to attract hummingbirds, you'll need to fill it with fast-growing plants that serve as a source of nectar. One of the easiest and most gorgeous hanging basket plants that hummingbirds absolutely love is sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima). With its clusters of white flowers in spring and fall, sweet scent, and plentiful nectar, you and visiting hummers will enjoy it.

Sweet alyssum, which is native to the Mediterranean, is a popular annual flower in home gardening circles. Despite not being endemic to the U.S., it does not spread invasively. Instead, it grows into a containable mounding form as it matures. Outside of attracting hummingbirds, you can count on it to help prevent aphids in your home garden. The fast-growing flower will fill your yard with fireflies, lady beetles, and parasitic wasps, all of which number among the pests' numerous natural enemies. While it is frequently used as groundcover, taking advantage of its mat-forming growth, lobularia also thrives in hanging planters. Its trailing habit makes it an ideal spiller species that catches the eye when in full bloom.

Sweet alyssum is a popular hanging basket annual because it will tumble over the rim of any pot you grow it in. The plant prefers a spot in full sun, but it doesn't mind a little shade. If attracting hummingbirds is your goal, note that lobularia blooms less abundantly in shade. Keep this Mediterranean native happy by using well-draining soil in your hanging basket and allowing the soil to dry out a little between waterings. There are lots of cultivars available, including the Alyssum Wonderland Flower Series, which features plants that flower in unique colors, such as pink or purple. Again, however, you'll get the most hummer visits by planting white-flowering sweet alyssum — these varieties are more vigorous and have strongly fragranced blooms.

Since lobularia is filled with fragrant white flowers that'll make your patio smell good all summer long, try hanging it from posts or railings near seating areas. You can use a Worth Garden Forged Wrought Iron Plant Hanger Bracket or a similar hook to secure it to any upright wooden feature. This way, you'll have a front-row seat to hummingbirds feeding on sweet alyssum blooms. While you can grow an entire basket filled with lobularia, this flowering annual mixes well with other popular hummingbird-attracting species. A good combination for a hanging planter includes sweet alyssum as the spiller and lantana (Lantana camara) as a contrasting thriller and filler. Allow each species to form large clumps to ensure lots of colorful, scented blooms for visiting hummingbirds.