Zinnias are bright, colorful, and attractive showy flowers that successfully attract many pollinators. And among all pollinators, bees come in the first place and hummingbirds make great pollinators too as they are feed on flower nectar.
However, neither of them is attracted to every flower and this can make you think about whether bees and hummingbirds like zinnias or not.
Therefore, to get to learn the precise answers regarding this query of yours, go through the segments filled up with explanations ahead.
Do Bees & Hummingbirds Like Zinnias?
Zinnias with their showy bright-colored flower heads greatly attract hummingbirds and make one of the favorite flowers of hummingbirds, so it clearly indicates that hummingbirds like zinnias. However, zinnias aren’t the top preference of bees but bees still like zinnias and collect nectar from them.
Although you already got the basic information that zinnias are liked by both bees and hummingbirds, below short yet detailed and individual explanations about the liking of bees and hummingbirds towards zinnias are provided for your better understanding.
Bees:
Zinnias don’t make the best or most preferred flowers for bees to collect nectar as zinnias have a wide center that doesn’t give bees the facility to perch on the zinnias petals and drink nectar.
But that doesn’t mean bees dislike them or they don’t get attracted by zinnias. Being one of the main pollinators, bees still quite like zinnias and fill themselves with the nectar of zinnias and help in pollinating.
And to mention, among all species of bees, honeybees and bumblebees are the two specific species of bees that are particularly known for liking zinnia flowers and getting tempted by them.
Except for these two bee species, there are also many other solitary bees that like zinnia flowers too.
Hummingbirds:
Hummingbirds absolutely like zinnias flowers. As hummingbirds can perch on the steam and put their beaks effortlessly into the open zinnias and drink zinnia nectar to fill themselves up.
Besides, hummingbirds prefer to feed on the nectar of zinnias as much as the other main pollinators of zinnias such as butterflies, honey bees, bumblebees.
Therefore, zinnias make one of their best food sources and make hummingbirds like them.
Moreover, nectar consuming birds like hummingbirds are more often tempted by colorful flowers and zinnias certainly have vibrant colors that make hummingbirds like them.
Does Zinnia Attract Bees?
The vibrant colorful zinnia flowers certainly do attract bees but these flowers aren’t that great at attracting bees as zinnias aren’t actually the favorite flower of bees, rather zinnias are more favorite to butterflies and other pollinators.
Zinnias have a wide and open disk that is not so suitable for bees to perch on and collect nectar, therefore, they fly around zinnias a bit less than other flowers.
However, the sweet nectar of zinnias still tempts bees quite a lot, and to fill themselves bees indeed go to zinnias and it helps in pollination.
Nevertheless, remember that there are certain varieties of zinnias such as Zinnia Profusion Series, Zinnia Elegans Pulcino/Sprite/Cresto Mixed, Zinnia Zinderella Lilac and Purple, and other two-three varieties only successfully attract bees.
Not all varieties of zinnias don’t attract all bees.
Are Zinnias Good For Bees? Do Honey Bees Like Zinnias?
Zinnias are good for any pollinators, so undoubtedly they are equally good for bees as well.
Zinnias grow as an annual flowering plant with bright, attractive, and colorful flower heads and produce a decent amount of pollen florets that provide bees with enough sweet nectar during the blooming season.
Also, some zinnias grow with cut-and-come-again and double-bloom quality, so if these zinnias are planted in the garden, bees really don’t face the scarcity of nectar to feed themselves.
Thereby, bees remain attracted to zinnias and keep coming back in the garden which makes zinnias good for bees.
Moreover, know that among all types of bees, honeybees are one of the specific kinds of bees that like zinnias the most. And they continue to come to zinnias to feed themselves with the sweet nectar of zinnias.
What Do Hummingbirds Get From Zinnias?
Hummingbirds get nectar from zinnias.
Despite being a bird, hummingbirds drink nectar from flowers to fill themselves just like butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. Thus, they are seen to go after different flowers to collect nectar.
And these showy colorful zinnias are not an exception, hummingbirds equally like zinnias and go after them so that they can get the sweet nectar of zinnias too by plopping the long beaks of their into the zinnias.
Besides, zinnias are able to provide hummingbirds with a sufficient amount of nectar to fill themselves, so hummingbirds just go and get as much as nectar they want for themselves.
This is the main reason why hummingbirds prefer flying around zinnias so much.
What Do Bees Get From Zinnias?
Bees get both the sweet nectar and pollen of zinnias.
Bees thrive by feeding themselves nectar and pollen, as flower nectar provides them with the energy they require and pollen gives them the needed protein and the other nutrients they want. Pollen mainly is used as a larvae food by the bees.
And the same situation goes for the zinnias as well, bees fly from one zinnia to another zinnia to get the nectar and pollen of zinnias to feed themselves.
As zinnia nectar and pollen are also good food sources for them and both the zinnia nectar and pollen provide bees with energy, protein, and other nutrients that they get from other flowers too.
Honey bees and bumblebees are more commonly known for getting their needed nectar and pollen from zinnias than all other bee types.
Do Hummingbirds Feed On Zinnias?
Hummingbirds indeed feed on zinnias along with the other flowers because zinnias are one of their most preferred flowers for drinking nectar. And not to mention that nectar is one of the main food sources of hummingbirds.
It’s because the nectar of zinnias or other flowers contains a good quantity of sucrose that provides hummingbirds with the needed energy for their huge metabolism, robust lives, and swift flying.
Hence, zinnias can offer hummingbirds their needed amount of nectar to thrive, hummingbirds made zinnias one of their favorite food sources and feed on them.
What Kind Of Zinnia Do Hummingbirds Like? Which Zinnias Are Best For Hummingbirds?
If you prefer hummingbirds around your zinnia plants, you certainly would want to know what kind of zinnias will hummingbird like or which zinnias will be the best for them.
Therefore, below the types of zinnias that hummingbirds mostly prefer or we can say the best variety of zinnias are listed and explained for you to go through them.
Zowie Yellow Flame:
Zowie Yellow Flame zinnias are an expensive and F1 hybrid variety of zinnia flowers that are known for consistently producing maximum pollen florets on an everyday basis.
And due to their ability to produce the maximum pollen florets, Yellow Flame zinnias are considered one of the best zinnias for hummingbirds.
It’s because these tiny birds mostly like those zinnias that produce lots of pollen florets which let these birds collect more nectar than other usual zinnias.
Persian Carpet Zinnias:
Persian Carpet zinnias are another variety of zinnia flowers that are highly liked by Hummingbirds and can be deemed as a good zinnia variety for these birds.
It’s because Persian Carpet zinnias are a cut-and-come-again type of flowers that will keep continuing to grow every time if one zinnia is cut. Thereby, hummingbirds will not have any scarcity of pollen florets, so they like it.
Magellan Coral Zinnia:
Magellan Coral zinnias are double coral red zinnia and hummingbirds naturally prefer bright red-colored blooms, therefore, they are easily attracted by the beauty of these coral red-colored zinnias.
Magellan Coral zinnias are considered as the other best variety of zinnias for hummingbirds because they bloom for another time after the first blossom gets over.
This means they are an all-season-lasting variety of zinnias that are going to provide nectar to hummingbirds all-season long.
Benary’s Giant Golden Yellow Zinnia:
Benary’s Giant Golden Yellow zinnias also come with a double-bloom quality, therefore, they are also going to last all season. And it allows hummingbirds to get nectar for two consecutive blooming periods in the same year.
As a result, hummingbirds prefer these zinnias and are the best type due to their ability of attracting hummingbirds.
California Giant Zinnias:
According to many gardeners, hummingbirds tend to collect nectar from the same varieties of zinnias that butterflies and other pollinators like.
And California Giant zinnias are one of them that are seen to liked by both the butterflies and hummingbirds. So this zinnia variety also can be stated as a good one for hummingbirds.
Final Thoughts
Both the hummingbirds and bees like zinnias because zinnias regardless of the variety are a good food source that provides both of them with enough nectar and pollen to thrive on. However, not all types of bees equally like zinnias but hummingbirds truly like them.