DIY Network

Garden Wildlife: Butterflies and Hummingbirds Attracting nature's "living jewels" to your backyard. From "Dirt On Gardening" episode DDOG-111

You can attract butterflies to your garden using a flat tray of moist sand to take advantage of a natural behavior known as "puddling."

Attracting wildlife to your yard a number of distinct benefits. Perhaps you enjoy the sight of hummingbirds sipping nectar from your flowers, or you're mesmerized by the brilliant colors of native butterflies. But being able to watch wild creatures up close is only one of the advantages of backyard diversity.

Remember that all plants and animals exist as part of an ecosystem which, to thrive, must remain in balance. The relationships that exist among species often works to the mutual benefit of participants. Bees and other insects that feed on flowers, for example, are also pollinators and help increase flower blooms and vegetable yields. Birds are fascinating to watch, but some types such as purple martins also help keep the population of particular insects in check. Bats (which can be coaxed to reside in your yard by installing properly designed bat-houses) are actually the primary predators of night-flying insects, and a single brown bat may catch and consume hundreds of mosquitoes in an hour.

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Figure A

If you'd like to attract wildlife to your garden, keep in mind that all living creatures need four basic elements to survive: food, water, safe shelter and a place to raise young. Providing some--or all--of these elements is a sure way to bring wild creatures to your garden. The trick is to attract the beneficial ones while not inviting harmful ones. By carefully selecting what and how you plant, you can attract the types of wildlife that are more desirable in the garden. Below you'll find suggestions for attracting some of the most sought-after garden visitors: hummingbirds and butterflies.

Pyracantha is another shrub that provides shelter for birds as well as a food source for some in the form of berries.

Plants as Food for Wildlife

Choose your plants to provide food for backyard wildlife throughout the year. Consider plants that provide natural foods in the form of fruits, seeds, nuts or nectar. Many plants, such as flowering quince (figure A), provide shelter and nesting sites as well as food. In this case, the blooms are attractive to hummingbirds.

Many native perennials and annuals provide nectar for both butterflies and hummingbirds. Hummingbirds tend to visit tube-shaped, red flowers such as bee balm, wild columbine and native honeysuckles while butterflies prefer flat or clustered flowers such as purple coneflower, Phlox and Zinnia.

Check with your nursery or agricultural extension for native-species selections. Wildlife that is native to your area naturally survives on, or likely has natural affinities with, the plants that are native to the area.

The butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii) grows tall and is positively "magnetic" to the ornamental insects.

Plants for Attracting Butterflies:

The ideal situation for creating a butterfly habitat is to provide the types of plants on which adult butterflies can feed (i.e., "nectar plants") and lay their eggs, and the types of plants on which caterpillars dine (i.e., "host plants"). The butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii), for example, offers blooms that attract adult butterflies as well as leaves that are suited for laying eggs and for the young caterpillars to feed upon.

When it comes to the larval stage butterflies--aka caterpillars-- many gardeners prefer not to have insect-chewed plants on full display. You may want to locate your host plants for the caterpillars in a less visible or separate area, not far from where the nectar plants. Planting both host and nectar plants will help ensure that you have a greater number of butterflies.

Each type of butterfly typically seeks out specific plant species among weeds, veggies, perennials, shrubs and trees. For example, monarch butterflies are attracted to milkweed; buckeye butterflies are attracted to snap dragons. Find out what butterfly species are native to your area and what plant species they are attracted to.

Plant your "butterfly garden" in a sunny location. Butterflies need sun to keep warm, and most of the nectar plants they sip from grow best in full sun. And, of course, avoid using pesticides or other strong chemicals in your butterfly garden as these will harm the visitors you're hoping to entice.

Some plants that are recommended for attracting butterflies include:

• Aster
  
• Coreopsis
  
• butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii)
  
• joe pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum)
  
• black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia spp.)
  

  	Figure B
  	Figure C
  	Figure D

Butterflies often gather in groups on wet sand or mud, giving the appearance that they are "eating dirt". This activity is called "puddling", and they do it to obtain the minerals and nutrients that are present in the soil.

The presence of moist sand or mud is one feature that will help attract butterflies to a particular location. You can create such a feature your garden simply by placing a shallow pan in the soil, filling it with coarse sand and keeping the sand moist. Here's how to do it:

• Simply fill a bowl with a layer of sand (figure B) and sink the bowl to where the rim is at ground level.

• Select a location, preferably one close to the nectar plants that the butterflies will be feeding upon and one where you can enjoy watching the butterflies.

• Arrange some flat stones near flowers and at the edge of the puddle (figure C). This will provide the butterflies with a landing place where they can bask in the warm sun to heat up their wing muscles.

• When the bowl and sand are in place, add enough water to wet the sand (figure D), but not enough to submerge it.

  Tip: You may want to locate the puddling area under a soaker hose or near a drip emitter to help keep the sand moist.

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