Why These Sweet-Smelling Flowers Are The Perfect Way To Attract Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are gorgeous and entertaining birds to have in your yard. Because of this, people try many different ways to attract them, from putting out feeders to planting specific hummingbird-friendly flowering trees, like the twilight crepe, or one of the many other plants that attract these tiny iridescent birds to a garden. However, if you are looking for an interestingly rare and sweet-smelling flower that will bring more hummingbirds to your yard, you can try planting chocolate cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus). Like the name suggests, the best thing about this flower, besides its ability to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, is that it smells like chocolate. 

Native to Mexico, these flowers were once thought to be extinct. They actually get their rare and delicious scent from an organic compound called vanillin which is also in cocoa. While definitely enticing to humans, the chocolate scent of these flowers may also be enticing to hummingbirds — which are one of the few birds that are thought to have a sense of smell. However, the scent alone is not the only reason that hummingbirds love chocolate cosmos.

Hummingbirds and other pollinators tend to love chocolate cosmos flowers because they are filled with delicious nectar. It's something particularly important to these tiny birds, which have such a high metabolism that they need to be almost constantly eating. In fact, hummingbirds love all cosmos flowers because they tend to be nectar-rich. However, the chocolate cosmos may just be the best option to attract hummingbirds out of all the cosmos — because of the flower's deep maroon color (which accompanied by the aroma of the chocolate is reminiscent of red velvet cake). This is important because hummingbirds are specifically attracted to red, so adding red nectar-rich flowers to your home garden is a sure way to attract more of these gorgeous birds.

Besides just being beloved by hummingbirds, people tend to love chocolate cosmos for their scent and dark beauty. Chocolate cosmos are also perennials and will come back year after year. These flowers thrive in heat and full sun and do not like the cold. Because of this, they do best when planted in growing zones nine through eleven (the West Coast and Southernmost U.S.) where they will survive the winter. Chocolate cosmos can also be grown in zones seven and eight if heavily mulched during the cold months. Growing chocolate cosmos in zones four through six will require you to dig up the tubers and store them inside during winter in order to keep them alive.