Native Plants

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A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Wednesday - August 27, 2014

From: Broken Arrow, OK
Region: Southwest
Topic: Pollinators, Herbs/Forbs, Shrubs
Title: Hummingbird Bushes for Broken Arrow OK
Answered by: Larry Larson

QUESTION:

I am looking for bushes that attract hummingbirds. I live in Broken Arrow, OK. Can you recommend some?

ANSWER:

The general method I use to look for special purpose plants is to review the special collections of native plants that the Wildflower Center maintains. This link is to the Recommended Species collection for Oklahoma. The issue is that “Hummingbird favorites” is not a field we can automatically search. You would need to search the collection for plants that appeal to you; then you have to read the plant record. Hummingbird favorites is a separate line under the category “Benefits”.

I have an easier out though – I found a special collection of Hummingbird plants for Central Texas – It’s a bit easier to review this collection for plants which also are native to Broken Arrow OK.

Here’s the first six that I found by looking at the above collection and checking with the USDA record [The link on the “USDA symbol”] to see if it is native to your area.

Aesculus pavia (Scarlet buckeye)

Amorpha canescens (Leadplant)

Amorpha fruticosa (Indigo bush)

Bignonia capreolata (Crossvine)

Castilleja indivisa (Entireleaf indian paintbrush)

Campsis radicans (Trumpet creeper)

[There were 30 plants on the list and most of the ones I reviewed were also native to Oklahoma, so you have several more to consider!]