The Candy-Looking Vine That Will Fill Your Yard With Hummingbirds

Imagine stepping out to your yard and getting swept away not only in the sights and smells of the garden you carefully curated but the colorful, energetic hummingbirds it attracts. However, before you can enjoy the natural vibrancy that hummingbirds add to the atmosphere of your yard, you'll need to build a garden they'll want to visit. This means implementing a few essential features for attracting hummingbirds, including adding a variety of plants such as this candy-looking vine that will help draw them in.

Also known as the firecracker vine, the candy corn plant (Manettia luteorubra) is a real show-stopper in the garden. It blooms with orange flowers topped by yellow edges, an appearance that resembles the well-loved autumn candy its named for while also serving as a beacon to any nearby hummingbirds looking for a quick meal. These flowers begin showing during the summer but last into the fall, giving you weeks of hummingbird appeal and making it a great plant to use in a pollinator garden. The candy corn plant grows quickly and complements hanging baskets. It's perfect for gardeners looking for low-maintenance plants that fill the yard with hummingbirds without a large time commitment.

Overall, the candy corn plant is easy to care for. As a result, if you need a plant that even beginner gardeners can grow, it can be a helpful place to start. However, even easy plants need the right care to thrive.

The first step to growing the candy corn plant is deciding the silhouette you'd like to curate. Candy corn plants perform well when given trellises, but that doesn't mean you're limited to the traditional setup for this flowering vine. You can also grow it as a small shrub or bush, with the difference depending on how you choose to maintain it. If you want to grow a candy corn plant on a trellis, simply provide the trellis needed for support and train the plant to spread across the surface for an intricate appearance. For a more natural shrub-like appearance, you'll instead want to prune the plant regularly to maintain a bushy silhouette.

Once you choose the level of maintenance and preparation you wish to use for your candy corn plant, the next goal is to provide optimal care. After all, a healthy plant produces more blooms than one that's barely hanging on, and more flowers means more potential to attract more hummingbirds to your yard. Candy corn plants grow best when offered either full or partial sun. It's also used to warmer climates, which means that it does well in those hotter areas in your yard. However, it does need moderate amounts of water. This means you'll want to be careful of allowing it to dry out too much if you do opt to grow it in full sun.