If you love butterflies and birds and you have a yard, your chances are great for grabbing their attention. Gardening isn’t just for the love of flowers. It can be for the love of butterflies or birds. It’s a fact that butterflies and birds love flowers - especially when there’s lots of them. Choosing many different types of flowers assures that you will receive a wide variety of visitors. Since butterflies and hummingbirds love nectar and sunshine set the flowers in a sunny part of the yard. Some good annual flowers are zinnias and marigolds. Perennials such as black-eyed Susan, phlox, purple coneflowers, and verbenas are great for capturing the interest of butterflies. These particular flowers are also low-maintenance requiring only sun and water.
Butterfly bush is a perennial shrub that is a real attractant. Wild flowers produce a lot of nectar which grabs the attention of many varieties of the flying beauties. Flowers aren’t the only garden residents that attract butterflies. Certain weeds, like milkweed or Joe-pye weed are also loved by butterflies. Flowers which have wide petals and flowers with multiple florets make it easy for the birds to eat. The landing pads of the broad flowers give birds and butterflies a place to rest and enjoy nectar at the same time.
The black swallowtail butterfly caterpillar larvae thoroughly enjoy plants from the carrot family such as parsley, fennel, dill and Queen Anne’s lace. The adult butterfly loves nectar from red clover, milkweed and thistles. Having some of each of the groups planted in your garden assures that some butterflies will make it their permanent home.
Plants are loved by birds and butterflies not only for their nectar but for their foliage. Some caterpillars feed on certain plants. Milkweed leaves, for example, are the sole food of the Monarch butterfly so making sure you have some in your garden you are catering to the entire life cycle of the Monarch.
If you love hummingbirds in particular and you want to see plenty of them in your gardens plant salvias which are irresistible to the species. They also love pineapple sage known for their red flowers in early fall. Another plant which attracts hummingbirds is a cardinal flower or the coral honeysuckle. There are other species of honeysuckle that hummingbirds love, too. To attract goldfinch plant verbena-on-a-stick. It’s a tall plant with small lavender flowers that bloom during the entire summer.
Do away with bird feeders if you hope to have the beauties land in your flower garden instead. Birds will sometimes go to the garden but will often make it easier on themselves by simply feeding from the feeders. If you prefer to keep the feeders hang them close by the flower gardens.
Keep your fluttering visitors safe by avoiding pesticides in your flower garden. Look for flowers at a home and garden shop that bloom during different seasons. If all your flowers bloom at once then fade away birds and butterflies will seek out another garden. Plant as many flowers as possible in your yard for the best chances of seeing plenty of flyers.
