Top 7 'Hummingbird-Feeder' Flowering Vines to grow in balcony pots for a stunning vertical display. - Goh Ling Yong
Imagine stepping out onto your balcony, coffee in hand, to be greeted not by a concrete wall, but by a living tapestry of vibrant green leaves and jewel-toned blossoms. Now, picture a flash of iridescent color, a blur of tiny wings, and the faintest hum as a hummingbird zips in to sip nectar from a trumpet-shaped flower right before your eyes. This isn't a scene from a botanical garden; it's a reality you can create in your own small space.
For many of us urban dwellers, a balcony is our precious slice of the great outdoors. The challenge, and the joy, lies in maximizing its potential. Vertical gardening is the key. By growing upwards, we can transform a limited footprint into a lush, three-dimensional sanctuary. And what better way to animate this vertical space than with flowering vines that double as 'hummingbird feeders'? These plants offer a sustainable, beautiful alternative to plastic feeders, providing a natural food source that supports these amazing pollinators.
As a passionate gardener, I, Goh Ling Yong, have always believed that small spaces hold immense potential for creating breathtaking natural displays. By choosing the right plants, you can craft a stunning vertical showcase that not only looks incredible but also becomes a vibrant hub of life. In this guide, we'll explore seven of the best flowering vines that thrive in containers, are perfect for a balcony trellis, and are guaranteed to have hummingbirds making a beeline for your home.
1. Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
The Well-Behaved Native Superstar
When you hear "honeysuckle," you might picture the aggressively invasive Japanese variety, but cast that thought aside. Coral Honeysuckle is its well-mannered, North American native cousin, and it's an absolute must-have for any hummingbird enthusiast. This vine produces spectacular clusters of slender, trumpet-shaped flowers in brilliant shades of coral, red, and yellow. The bloom season is incredibly long, often starting in spring and continuing well into the fall, providing a reliable food source for hummingbirds, including migrating ones.
Unlike its invasive relatives, Coral Honeysuckle is a twining vine, not a smothering beast. It plays nicely on a trellis and won't try to take over your entire balcony. Its flowers are perfectly shaped for a hummingbird's long beak and tongue, making it a five-star restaurant for these tiny birds. As a bonus, the flowers give way to bright red berries in the fall, which provide food for other songbirds like finches and robins.
- Growing Tips for Pots: Choose a pot that's at least 18-20 inches in diameter (a 10-gallon pot or larger is ideal) to give its roots room to grow. Use a high-quality, well-draining potting mix. Coral Honeysuckle blooms best in full sun (6+ hours a day), so place it in your sunniest spot. While drought-tolerant once established in the ground, potted plants dry out faster, so water regularly, especially during hot, dry spells. Provide a sturdy trellis or support for it to twine around, and prune it back in late winter to maintain shape and encourage vigorous new growth.
2. Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans)
The Undisputed Hummingbird Magnet
If you want to roll out the red carpet for hummingbirds, plant a Trumpet Vine. There is arguably no other plant they love more. This powerhouse vine produces enormous, 3-inch-long, trumpet-shaped flowers in fiery shades of orange and red. They bloom in dense clusters throughout the hottest parts of the summer, precisely when hummingbirds are most active. The sheer volume of nectar these flowers produce makes them an irresistible, high-energy food source.
Now for the important caveat: Trumpet Vine is famously, and aggressively, vigorous. In a garden bed, it can send out runners and become a serious problem. However, this very vigor is what can be harnessed in a container! By confining its roots to a pot, you gain control. You get all the spectacular, hummingbird-attracting glory without the risk of it taking over your property. It requires a commitment to pruning, but the payoff is a world-class wildlife show on your balcony.
- Growing Tips for Pots: Go big and strong. A large, heavy pot (20-25 gallons) is non-negotiable, both to provide root space and to act as an anchor. This vine gets heavy. Your trellis must be equally robust; think metal or thick, sturdy wood, securely fastened. Plant in a standard potting mix and place in full, blazing sun—the more sun, the more flowers. Prune it hard in the late winter or very early spring, cutting it back to just a few main buds on the primary framework. This severe pruning is the secret to keeping it container-sized and encouraging a profusion of blooms on new wood.
3. Mandevilla (Mandevilla spp.)
The Tropical and Tidy Showstopper
For a touch of lush, tropical elegance, look no further than Mandevilla. With its glossy, deep-green leaves and stunning, trumpet-shaped flowers in shades of pink, red, and pure white, Mandevilla looks and feels like a vacation. These vines have a more controlled, less rampant growth habit than something like a Trumpet Vine, making them absolutely perfect for a polished and tidy vertical display in a pot.
Hummingbirds are drawn to the large, colorful flowers, which offer a generous nectar reward. Because Mandevilla is a tropical native, it's not frost-hardy. This makes it an ideal candidate for container gardening, as you can treat it as a spectacular summer annual or bring the pot indoors to overwinter near a sunny window. Its continuous blooming throughout the hot summer months ensures a steady stream of nectar for your feathered friends.
- Growing Tips for Pots: A 5- to 7-gallon pot (about 14-16 inches in diameter) is a great starting point. Mandevilla demands excellent drainage, so ensure your pot has holes and use a rich, well-draining potting mix amended with a bit of compost. It loves sun but can appreciate a little shade from the scorching late-afternoon sun in very hot climates. Feed it with a balanced liquid fertilizer every 2-3 weeks during the growing season to fuel its flower production. It will need a trellis to twine its way up, but it's a polite climber and easy to manage.
4. Cypress Vine (Ipomoea quamoclit)
The Delicate and Dainty Darling
Cypress Vine is the picture of delicate beauty. It features feathery, fern-like foliage that is gorgeous in its own right, creating a soft, green screen. Dotted all over this fine foliage are countless tiny, star-shaped, fiery-red tubular flowers. Each flower is a perfect little nectar straw, and hummingbirds will work their way over the entire vine, sipping from blossom after blossom.
This is a fast-growing annual vine, which means it will go from seed to a fully blooming, 10-foot vine in a single season. This makes it a fantastic choice for renters or for anyone wanting a quick, low-commitment burst of color and life. Its light, airy structure means it doesn’t require a heavy-duty trellis; simple netting or strings will work just fine. A technique we often discuss on the Goh Ling Yong blog is using annual vines like this to create temporary, living privacy screens for the summer.
- Growing Tips for Pots: A medium-sized pot (3-5 gallons) is sufficient. Grow from seed started directly in the pot after the last frost. To speed up germination, nick the hard seed coat with a file or soak the seeds in warm water overnight. Use a standard potting mix and provide a light-duty trellis, net, or even just some wires for it to climb. Full sun is essential for good blooming. Be careful not to over-fertilize; too much nitrogen will give you lots of beautiful foliage but very few flowers.
5. Cardinal Climber (Ipomoea x multifida)
The Hybrid Hummingbird Hero
Meet the spectacular offspring of the Cypress Vine and the Red Morning Glory. The Cardinal Climber takes the best traits from both parents, resulting in a vine that is a true hummingbird hero. It has foliage that is more substantial than the ferny Cypress Vine but still beautifully lobed, like a bird's foot. The real prize, however, is the flowers: intensely scarlet-red, tubular, and slightly larger than those of the Cypress Vine, making them an even more prominent target for hungry hummers.
Like its parents, the Cardinal Climber is a fast-growing annual that is easy to start from seed. It will quickly cover a trellis, fence, or arbor, creating a dense wall of green punctuated by brilliant red blossoms from mid-summer until the first frost. For a sheer density of perfect hummingbird flowers, it’s very hard to beat.
- Growing Tips for Pots: Similar to the Cypress Vine, a 5-gallon pot is plenty. Soak or nick the seeds before planting in a well-draining potting mix. It needs a support structure to climb, and it will do so enthusiastically. Plant it in your sunniest location; six or more hours of direct sun will yield the best floral display. It's not a heavy feeder, so go easy on the fertilizer. Just provide consistent water, especially on hot days, and watch the hummingbirds put on a show.
6. Black-Eyed Susan Vine (Thunbergia alata)
The Cheerful and Charming Climber
Don't let the name fool you; this isn't the classic yellow daisy from the field. The Black-Eyed Susan Vine is a cheerful, twining vine that produces masses of simple, open-faced flowers with a distinctive dark center. While they aren't the classic "tubular" hummingbird shape, their bright colors—typically sunny yellow, warm orange, or creamy white—are highly attractive to hummingbirds, who will readily visit them.
This is another fast-growing annual that is incredibly easy to manage in a pot, often sold as a pre-started hanging basket that can be trained onto a small trellis. It blooms prolifically and without fuss from early summer right up until frost, providing a long season of color. Its dense but not-too-heavy growth is perfect for creating a quick screen or adding a splash of color to a balcony railing.
- Growing Tips for Pots: This vine is perfectly happy in a 3- to 5-gallon pot or a large hanging basket. Use a good-quality, all-purpose potting soil. It performs well in full sun to part shade, making it a bit more versatile than some of the other sun-worshippers on this list. Keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged. To keep the blooms coming, feed with a liquid fertilizer for flowering plants every few weeks and occasionally trim back any leggy stems.
7. Firecracker Vine / Spanish Flag (Ipomoea lobata)
The Unique and Unforgettable Finale
If you want a plant that will stop people in their tracks, this is it. The Firecracker Vine, also known as Spanish Flag, is one of the most unique and spectacular annual vines you can grow. It produces long, one-sided sprays of flowers that are absolutely mesmerizing. The buds at the tip of the spray start as a deep, fiery red, and as the flowers open and mature down the stalk, they fade sequentially to orange, then yellow, and finally a creamy white. The effect is a multi-colored floral cascade on a single stem.
This stunning color gradient is a huge draw for hummingbirds, who methodically work their way up and down the flower sprays. It’s a bit slower to start flowering than some other annuals, often waiting until late summer to put on its main show, but it is absolutely worth the wait. It provides a crucial late-season nectar source for hummingbirds fattening up for migration.
- Growing Tips for Pots: Grow this beauty in a 5-gallon or larger pot to support its late-season growth spurt. Like its relatives, the Cypress Vine and Cardinal Climber, it grows best from seed (soak them first!) planted after the weather has warmed. It needs full sun and a sturdy trellis to support its surprisingly dense late-summer foliage and flowers. Don't be discouraged if it seems slow to take off; its growth will explode once the days get long and hot. Provide regular water and get your camera ready for the grand finale of the gardening season.
Your Vertical Oasis Awaits
Transforming your balcony from a simple outdoor space into a dynamic, living ecosystem is one of the most rewarding projects you can undertake. By choosing the right flowering vines and providing them with a sturdy pot and a place to climb, you create more than just a beautiful view. You build a sanctuary, a nectar-rich haven that will attract and sustain incredible wildlife like hummingbirds.
There is a profound joy in watching a garden you’ve planted become a part of the larger natural world, and a vertical display of these hummingbird-feeder vines is a perfect way to experience it. So, pick a sunny spot, select a sturdy pot, and get ready to grow upwards.
Which of these flowering vines are you most excited to try on your balcony? Do you have another favorite hummingbird-attracting plant that thrives in containers? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below—let's grow a more beautiful, vibrant world together
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
Stay updated with the latest posts and insights by following on your favorite platform!