Birds, Bees & Butterflies

Transcription

1 Birds, Bees & Butterflies How to Attract Them to Your Garden by Bucks Country Gardens, Doylestown Becky Jones, Greenhouse Manager & Nancy McIlvaine, Garden Supply Manager Birds Attracting birds to your garden is good for the garden as well as the birds. Birds will visit your garden if there is plenty of food available or providing safe stop over areas for them to eat, drink, or nest. Encourage Birds to take up residence in your garden by providing them with three essential things: food, water and shelter. Food Use bird feeders with a variety of food such as seeds, nuts, suet, etc. (Different food will attract different birds to your garden.) The same can be done by using different types of plants in the garden. Different types of seeds and fruit plants produce will bring a variety of birds to your landscape. Great Plants for Attracting Birds Trees Serviceberry Season: Summer fruiting Attracts: Robins, Cardinals, Waxwings Also Provides: Nest Sites Flowering Dogwoods Season: Fall fruiting Attracts: Robins, Bluebirds, Cardinals, Grosbeaks & more Also Provides: Nest Sites Crabapples Season: Fall fruiting thru winter persistent fruit Food Type: Flower buds, flowers, fruit & seed Attracts: Robins, Bluebirds, Thrushes, Catbirds, Cardinals Shrubs Winterberry Holly Season: Fall Fruiting thru winter persistent fruit Attacts: Robins, Bluebirds, Waxwings & more Also provides: Cover Viburnums Season: Fall Fruiting, some fruits are winter persistent Attacts: Robins, Bluebirds, Thrushes, Catbirds, Cardinals, Waxwings & more Also Provides: Nest Sites & Cover

2 perennials annuals Sedum Season: Late Summer to Fall Food Type: Seed Heads Attracts: Finches & Chickadees Black Eyed Susan & Coneflowers Cosmos Marigolds Sunflowers Bird Feeders Bird Houses & Nesting Boxes Birds adore these garden classics! Attracts: House Finches, Chickadees & American Goldfinches Season: Summer thru Fall Food Type: Seed Heads for the birds- -accessories Bird baths

3 Hummingbirds How to get them to your Garden In six Easy Steps! 1. Be Ready! Find out when they are expected to make their spring return. In the Pennsylvania area arrive Mid-April to Early May Hang Nectar feeders 5 10 days before to lure them to stop and take a drink and stay all season. 2. Hummingbird Feeders Offer several hummingbird feeders in different locations throughout the yard. Place them in the same location year after year. Male hummingbirds can display territorial and aggressive behavior and chase away competitors from the same feeder. 3. Water Source Place a mister or dripper into your birdbath so they can enjoy a bath! 4. Clean Feeders Frequently Hummingbirds to do not like neglected feeders and will quickly abandon one for a cleaner alternative. Depending on outside temperatures, nectar can spoil quickly, usually 2 5 days. Place enough nectar for a few days, then clean with hot soapy water mixture, rinse and refill. 5. Use Bright Red Colorings Many feeders have bright red coloring to attract the hummingbirds. 6. Add more Plants They are drawn to red flowers with tube shaped blooms but also to purple, yellow, orange flowers. Use Hanging Baskets or mix more annuals in with your perennials to ensure long-blooming flowers throughout the season to attract hummingbirds. Great Plants for Attracting hummingbirds Saliva Annual & Petunias Annual crocosmia Lobelia Penstemon Honeysuckle Vine

4 Here s the Buzzzz on Bee Gardens! Why Attract Bees to the Garden? Bees are extremely important insects that pollinate many edible and ornamental plants in our gardens and landscape. How to Create a Bee Garden: 1. Create Diversity with Color More color & variety of flowers attracts more bees. Use plants that have blue, purple, yellow & white flowers. 2. Plant Flowers in Clusters Larger groupings of flowers will attract more bees than single flowers planted sporadically throughout the garden. 3. Select Different Plants with Different Bloom Times Plant groupings that bloom in succession spring, summer, then fall. Give them a reason to return to your backyard month to month. 4. Location, location, location! Create your Bee Garden in a sunny location using plants that prefer sunny spots. Bees prefer to forage in sunny areas and areas protected from the wind. 5. Water Source Provide a water source like a bird bath or shallow bowl. 6. Be sure to... Avoid highly inbred flowers such as variegated flowers or flowers with multiple sets of petals called doubles. Use single flowers (one ring of petals) to provide the most pollen and nectar possible. Great Plants & accessories for Attracting bees Catmint Agastache Salvia Sedum Lavender Foxglove Bee houses Bird baths

5 Create A Butterfly Garden before they Flutter by! Creating a Butterfly Habitat Choose the right plants to serve the needs of each of their life stages: Places to lay eggs Specific host plants for the caterpillars Nectar plants for adult butterflies Provide shelter, a water source & plenty of sunshine! Butterfly Garden Necessities 1. Plant type and color are Important Adult butterflies are attracted to reds, yellows, oranges, pinks and purples. They prefer flowers that have flat tops or clustered and have short flower tubes. 2. Location, location, location! Adult butterflies generally feed in the sun and need shelter from the winds. Design your garden in sunny spot in your backyard. 3. Plant Continuous Blooms Choose flowers that bloom throughout the summer mix in annuals with perennials to guarantee blooms all season long. 4. Provide a Rest Place Butterflies need the sun for orientation and the warmth for their wings for flight. Place flat stones to provide a place to rest and bask in the sun. 5. Water Source Keep a mud puddle damp in a sunny location to provide water. Great Plants for Attracting butterflies Butterfly Bush Coneflowers Plants that Feed the Larvae: Blanket Flower Lantana Cosmos Lavender Yarrow Zinnias Parsley, Dill & Fennel Swallowtail Butterflies Butterfly Weed Monarch Butterflies