Evidently...

birds can't read. All the standard information about hummingbirds indicates that they have a preference for tubular flowers, particularly those in the red-to-hot-pink color range, and that they are usually seen in flight. The hummers in our neighborhood have not gotten the memo.

In the old neighborhood, two red flowers fought for the title of Best Early Hummingbird Magnet. The red monarda "Jacob Cline" probably won for most intense activity,

and its ridiculous-looking flowers certainly tick all the boxes for "traits that attract hummingbirds." Just look at those tubes!

But our native honeysuckle, lonicera sempervirens, is no slouch. It climbs high, has a long bloom season, and sports blossoms that are usually the equivalent of an "eat here" sign for hummingbirds and clearwing moths.

And we have lots of it, rambling over a fence, and have had for some weeks.
 

However, we saw our first 2016 hummingbird just a few days ago. It zoomed in and perched for several minutes on the top branch of a kousa dogwood, then swooped over to a white rose of sharon, an old-fashioned variety with flattish blossoms, where it spent the next several minutes evidently finding something to its liking.

No accounting for tastes.