Attract Hummingbirds To Your Yard With One Stunning Purple Flower

Hummingbirds are amazing little creatures to watch as their jewel-like bodies dance from flower to flower. If you want hummingbirds in your yard, do not rely only on a sugar-water feeder, which can be dangerous to the hummingbird if it hasn't been changed often enough. Instead, plant flowers to attract hummingbirds. The 'Supertunia Royal Velvet' petunia (Petunia 'Supertunia Royal Velvet') is a rich purple flower that attracts hummingbirds because of its color and abundant nectar for hummingbirds to feed on. This stunning petunia variety is perfect as a unique border for your other flowers.

Why do hummingbirds favor petunias? These plants offer brightly colored flowers that hummingbirds are attracted to because they can easily see them, and their fragrance lets them know they are full of sweet nectar. Petunias are perfectly shaped for a hummingbird's beak with their long, tubular-shaped flowers that are open during the day when hummingbirds are active. These fierce fliers can pull out a large amount of nectar from petunias with less effort than other types of flowers. Your petunias will thrive with the help of kitchen scraps for a longer blooming season.

The 'Supertunia Royal Velvet' petunia offers a more intense color than many other types of petunia. Supertunias are annuals that bloom longer than other types of petunia, which helps attract hummingbirds from early spring through their fall migration. The 'Supertunia Royal Velvet' grows to about 10 inches high and is often used as a border plant because of the thick, trailing display that gracefully spills out of hanging baskets or over garden borders, making it a dream combination plant for the garden.

Supertunias require full sun to thrive, so be sure to plant it in an area that receives at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. These flowers need fed often — add a slow-release fertilizer to new plantings to get them off to a strong start, then fertilize regularly according to the fertilizer package instructions. Encourage your petunias to produce more blooms by deadheading them, which means removing the dead flowers to allow nutrients to go to new blooms. When placing new plants, space them about 20 inches apart to allow the plants to spread. Water your 'Supertunia Royal Velvet' regularly and avoid overly wet soil. If you are growing this cultivar in a container, you may need to water more frequently. If your petunia's leaves turn brown change the watering schedule or replant them.