If you want to attract hummingbirds to your garden, plant this guy!
New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus) is native to Central and Eastern North America. It is a smaller shrub, growing up to 3' tall and 4' wide. Clusters of tiny white flowers bloom in spring, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. Hummingbirds actually eat tiny insects that pollinate the New Jersey Tea flowers and feed them to their chicks. They need to feed those babies for 45-60 days, so they need a lot of insects!
New Jersey Tea perfers sandy or rocky well-drained soils in full sun or part shade. It's deep roots make it drought resistant and good for erosion control, but very difficult to transplant, so make sure you're sure of it's location when you plant it.
Sources: USDA, Missouri Botanical Garden, American Bird Conservancy
📷: Garrett Blake @ backroad_botony
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