Growing Medicinal Herbs for Hummingbirds and People

Join Deb Soule, herbalist, biodynamic herb grower and co-author of the book Notes from the Hummingbird Corridor (2025) for an inspiring conversation about including medicinal herbs and flowers in gardens and farms for attracting Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Deb has been closely observing Ruby-throats for over 35 years on Avena Botanicals farm in mid-coast Maine. Some of the medicinal herbs she will present that attract Ruby-throats include Solomon’s Seal root, Marshmallow, Dandelion, Red Bee balm, Comfrey, Catnip and Figwort along with a few favorite flowers of the hummingbirds. 

For many years Deb has pondered the vast migratory networks and long distances Ruby-throated Hummingbirds travel annually to the north country in spring, and their ecological and spiritual significance to the landscapes and communities they travel through, and summer and winter in. Deb will weave in stories from her trip along the eastern coastal migratory pathway all the way to the Gulf of Mexico where thousands of hummingbirds gather in fall to make their epic 500 mile crossing alone. She will also talk about the Schoolhouse Learning Center in Burlington, VT who received a grant to write and pilot a year-long hummingbird study with pre-K students. This curriculum will be available for free for schools throughout the Northeast starting in 2027, and has the potential to expand to higher grades and encourage public libraries, parks, community farms and faith-based communities to create healing sanctuary gardens for pollinators and people along these migratory corridors.