5 Reasons to Add Hummingbird Groundcover to your Yard

Who doesn’t want to find late-season bloomers for their garden? Let’s face it, most of our favorite blooms fade out by August. I discovered Creeping Hummingbird Trumpet Zauscherhneria garrettii (Fire Chalice)® or (Orange Carpet)® or Z. latifolia (Woody's Peach Surprise)® as a way to add color, then discovered it has many other benefits.

1. As a late season evergreen perennial, Creeping Hummingbird Trumpet Fire Chalice, blooms year after year. It is adaptive to low water conditions. This superb plant spreads to form a loose mat of low growing, bright green foliage. Starting late July, it lights up the garden with a profusion of bright red or orange flowers. With a drooping habit, it looks great in containers, rock walls, and hanging over raised beds. Regular watering when in bloom keeps the flowers popping for 4 to 8 weeks.

2. The plant's continuous bloom is key to bringing back birds year after year. The crimson color inch-long blooms attract hummingbirds and provide much-needed nectar forage.

3. Creeping Hummingbird Trumpet Zauschneria garrettii

Orange Carpet ®  is a native plant. It originated from the mountains of southern Idaho and thrives in our climate. 

4. You can use it in a lot of ways - not only as ground cover, but also in containers, rock garden, and mass-plantings. You can plant it anytime during the spring or summer.

5. My personal favorite: deadheading is not required! (!!)
Other late season bloomers that attract hummingbirds: Hummingbird Mint (Agastache), Scarlet Hedge Nettle, Beard Tongue Penstemon, Salvia, Columbine, Coral Bells, Red Birds in a Tree, Texas Red Yucca, Bee Balm.

Where to buy Creeping Hummingbird Trumpet: Look for a seedling at nurseries that sell native plants.
I have found it at:

• Adams Gardens & Nursery-Nampa,
• Edwards Greenhouse,
• Draggin' Wing High Desert Nursery-Boise.
• It is available online at High Country Gardens.

Gardening to attract hummingbirds requires nectar-rich flowers as well as water and shelter because not all birds will visit feeders. Adding Creeping Hummingbird Trumpet to your bird buffet can help insure the future for the birds, replacing food lost due to human activities like agriculture and urbanization.

Butterfly Gardening

A successful butterfly garden will have several key features which create a suitable habitat for butterflies and their larva called caterpillars. The first thing to remember is to avoid using insecticides in your garden, even those considered organic. There are several good alternatives such as soap sprays and horticultural oils.

Next, be sure your garden has the proper water. Create areas where water can puddle, then add rocks in the sun so butterflies can sun and warm themselves. 

Create an easy mini pond and you'll be rewarded with other visitors that will benefit your backyard ecosystem: frogs and birds - bees, too, need water!


Last, add plants which will provide shelter and food throughout the entire season. Butterflies tend to be attracted to brightly colored fragrant flowers.
Plants to consider growing for a butterfly garden in Idaho include bee balm, butterfly bush, cornflowers, dill, lilac, parsley, yarrow, zinnias, and other nectar bearing plants.

For other pollinators that will love your butterfly garden, click below
Bee Habitat
Attracting Native Bees to your landscape