How to Make A Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden?
Even before we bought this house, we fell in love with the butterflies and songbirds flitting from tree to tree behind the house. Trees I couldn't name lined the ravine, covered in sweet-smelling flowers. In the back, Rose of Sharon bushes flourished. A huge Mimosa tree hung low, dripping with silky pink blooms. Butterflies looped from flower to flower. Hummingbirds buzzed near our windows, reaching for the large Rose of Sharon blooms. A hummingbird and butterfly garden is a lively space. It has unique plants and features that attract these pollinators. They help support them throughout their life cycles. Choose native plants for a thriving pollinator garden. They should have nectar-rich flowers and serve as host plants for caterpillars. Adding water sources and shelter provides the finishing touches to a hospitable habitat.
Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden During that long winter, I pictured a garden of butterflies and hummingbirds. I wanted to attract these bright creatures even closer. We have been rewarded many times over with the beauty of both the blossoms and the birds and insects that the flowers attract. There are also sages, zinnias, Lantana and roses offering a different range of sweet nectar in the butterfly garden. Naturally, these animals want to keep moving and enjoy multiple feeding locations. We have a few beds of nectar rich flowers we offer the boys as a buffet, and also have flower pots and hanging baskets on the deck and patio to have a close view of them from our windows. This keeps them well watered and attracts a huge range of bees, dragonflies and other insects as well as the butterflies. Currently making quite a show in the garden is the buddliea (Butterfly Bush) which is proving to be a rich nectar source. New compact hybrids exist, but the species can take up lot of room and likes being cut back hard in February. In addition to food, butterflies and hummingbirds require places where they can safely land and sun themselves and a source of water. The butterflies are fed with a shallow dish of sand, gravel and fresh water. Hummingbirds like to fly through a fine spray of water, which could be from a fountain or a garden hose. Butterfly tree is a big draw for many butterflies and hummingbird moths in the garden. These volunteer at our farm. Use organic products in places where bees, birds and butterflies thrive! never use poisons! Chives Plenty of quality and affordable products to fertilize and kill fungus for the plants found anywhere. Spruce ants and birds are the main predators of this wide variety of species.
Joe Pye Weed with Tiger Swallowtail
A fantastic array of song birds will arrive to feed on their many insects drawn to this feeding ground. Hummingbirds also eat insects. I often find toads, turtles and small lizards in our butterfly gardens eating any insect that crawls or flies by. Dusk in our garden and the bats stream out from their roosts in the ravine to do quick circuits of the garden and hopefully hoover-up any insects as well. Using poisons in any form will defeat the object of a garden laid out to interest wildlife. Watch as these blooms act like never-ending nectar machines to draw butterflies and other pollinators to your garden. Our butterfly gardens have changed and expanded over our six summers here in this garden. We added more native perennials such as Joe Pye Weed, Milkweed and hardy native Hibiscus. We also put in more herbs and other smellies that deer despise. We also always add some herbs that are also host plants, like fennel, dill and parsley. Fuchsia Baskets are great for attracting hummingbirds and repeat visits from them. We've planted food in new gardens throughout the yard, while preserving some areas as wildlife habitat. We have plenty of sustenance for nectar-loving critters. It comes from the Crepe Myrtle and Lantana. These plants grow from the top of our garden, along the street, down to the back slope, and into the ravine.
Butterfly bush with native Hibiscus
Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden After we see our first spring hummingbird and then the first butterfly, the garden really takes off. It gets very lonely when they leave in the fall. We spend each month joyfully exploring the garden's "jewellery." Every day, we look for these enchanting visitors. Hummingbirds and nectar-loving insects, such as butterflies, love the large, tube-shaped flowers of Red Canna and Hibiscus. Here are some annuals, perennials, herbs, vines, and shrubs I grow. They attract hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, dragonflies, and songbirds. Achillea (Perennial flower) Hawk Moth on Lantana. Basil (Annual edible herb) Buddleia (Perennial shrub, also known as Butterfly Bush) Canna (Perennial flower) Clary Sage (Annual herb) Cleome (Annual flower) Coleus (Annual) Comfrey (Perennial herb in the borage family with lavender-colored flowers) Crepe Myrtle (Flowering tree) One of several Crepe Myrtle trees producing flowers around the garden. Echinacea (Perennial blooming flower, appealing to butterflies. The seeds attract goldfinches.) Fuchsias (Tender perennial) Jasmine (Flowering vine) Lavender (Perennial edible herb) Lilac (Flowering shrub) Heliotrope (Annual herb) Hibiscus (Perennial or semi-tender shrub, depending on variety) Hollyhocks (Biennials or perennials) Coleus Honeysuckle (Perennial vine) Hyacinth Bean (Annual vine) Jasmine (Perennial vine, evergreen) Lantana (Annual or Tender Biennial) Marigolds (Annual flower) Mexican Blue Sage (Perennial herb) Milkweed (Perennial flower, a favorite of butterflies, particularly Monarchs, which lay eggs on it. I plant a lot of it!) Mimosa (Flowering tree) Monarda (Also known as Bergamot or Bee Balm, this is an edible herb.) Moonflower (Flowering vine) Oregano (Perennial edible herb) Parsley (Biennial herb, food for caterpillars) Hardy Hibiscus Pelargonium (Perennial geraniums) Pentas (Annual flowers) Petunias (Tender perennial flower) Pineapple Sage (Edible perennial, with red flowers that attract hummingbirds) Roses (Perennial shrub) Rose of Sharon (Flowering shrub) Rudbeckia (Perennial flower) Salvia (Perennial subshrubs or herbs, some are food) Yarrow (Perennial flower) Zinnia (Annual flower that butterflies love. The seeds attract goldfinches) Woodland Gnome (2013-2015) The butterfly garden continues to feature Mexican Blue Sage and Pineapple Sage well into October. Read the full article
