Attract Hummingbirds Without A Feeder By Planting This Nectar-Rich Flowering Shrub

While hummingbird feeders may draw these magnificent, fluttering birds to your yard, you may also be looking for native plants that offer a more sustainable approach to attracting hummingbirds. If so, one that you might want to consider is ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), a non-invasive, nectar-rich flowering shrub that will entice and encourage hummingbirds to flock to your garden without a feeder. Ocotillo grows well in USDA hardiness zones 8 to 11 in the flat desert regions of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas.

Each shrub is made up of several long and winding shoots, which are aptly referred to as canes. Thorns run up and down the shoots, and are joined by green, oval-shaped leaves after periods of rain. It's no wonder hummingbirds are drawn to the shrub — it produces clusters of gorgeous red and orange flowers along the top of its tall shoots. Between the brightly colored leaves and the fact that the shrub often blooms more than once each year (the first time in the spring, and then again throughout the summer dependent on rainfall), it can be a nice addition to your yard when you're looking to attract hummingbirds. If you live in southern Arizona particularly, you may find that you attract even more hummingbirds as the blooming period occurs at the same time that the hummingbirds begin returning from their winter migrations to the south.

If you live in a desert region in USDA hardiness zones 8 to 11, you can plant ocotillo to attract hummingbirds to your yard. As a bonus, it's a plant that attracts both hummingbirds and butterflies, so it can help you create a true oasis for our precious pollinators. Given the fact that it grows in the desert, ocotillo is a drought-tolerant plant. However, you will want to choose a location in your yard with well-drained soil. It's accustomed to growing over rocky hillsides, which allow rainwater to drain thoroughly. In fact, while the plant produces its oval-shaped leaves following a good desert rain, these leaves drop soon after the soil dries out. This practice helps the shrub to better retain moisture in its roots and shoots to survive through periods of little to no rain, which are common in desert regions.

The best time to transplant an ocotillo is during the spring, between March and May. When replanting ocotillo in your yard, it's important to consider its original placement. You should take care to position the plant in the same orientation in which it was originally found (i.e. take note of which side of the canes were facing the southern sunlight, and put it back in the ground so that this side is once again in the direction of the blazing sun). Even immediately after planting, you'll need to be careful to avoid overwatering your new ocotillo plant. When the plant is still growing and establishing itself in your yard, watering about once a week during the summer and once every other week during colder months should be sufficient.