Landscaping: For the Birds and Butterflies
by Margaret A. Haapoja
“People need to think crooked to attract wildlife,” says Harry Hutchins, forestry instructor at Itasca Community College. “People are used to thinking in rows and rectangles. They’re accustomed to neatly manicured lawns and geometrically designed flower beds, and it’s hard for them to get used to randomly spaced, natural, informal plantings.” Hutchins was ahead of the curve when he designed an award-winning landscape for wildlife project on the ICC campus some 20 years ago. In today’s “green” environment, such landscaping is definitely in vogue.
According to a recent U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service survey, birdwatching is the fastest growing outdoor activity in the United States today with 71 million Americans participating. A 2007 Audubon survey revealed that since 1967 the average population of common birds has fallen by 68%, and some individual species have nose-dived by 80%. Evening grosbeaks and purple martins are down 78% and eastern meadowlarks, down 71%. What better time for bird lovers to pitch in and help out.
Four key components are essential for attracting wildlife: food, water, cover and reproductive areas. Chuck Cedar of Hibbing surrounds his bird feeder with balsams. Water is the major limiting resource for wildlife, so consider including a birdbath, fountain or pond. Ponds will attract frogs, toads and salamanders as well as waterfowl and other birds. Adding water doubles wildlife use, and bubbling, splashing water doubles it again, according to Carrol Henderson, supervisor of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Non-Game Wildlife Divison and author of Landscaping for Wildlife, the definitive textbook on the topic for Midwesterners.
The Midwest is home to more than 120 different kinds of butterflies according to Duluthian Pat Thomas, founder of the Lake Superior chapter of the North American Butterfly Association. Thomas says we can help butterflies by planting goldenrod, asters, liatris and sunflowers. Butterflies prefer daisy-like flowers, large clusters of blooms on a stem and flat-topped flowers that provide a platform for them to perch on and easy access to nectar. Fragrant flowers attract them, and they like to visit stands of flowers with strong colors like orange, yellow and purple. Thomas calls ornamental butterfly houses ‘butterfly coffins’ because butterflies that hibernate in them are likely to be eaten by spiders or mice.
“If you are willing to expand your vision of what a garden plant should look like, even in a city lot environment you can create some interesting, effective local habitat that will attract wildlife,” says Hibbing’s Chuck Cedar who will plant swamp milkweed seed he collected. “If I’m successful, it could bring me Monarch butterflies,” he says, “and as an extra bonus, the plant itself is interesting and the flowers are fragrant and beautiful.” Cedar also recommends common milkweed—normally considered a roadside weed—and two kinds of thistle as bird, insect and hummingbird magnets. Cedar has watched goldfinches dine on his broccoli leaves and butterflies feed on stinging nettles. “The bottom line is, weeds can be beautiful and bring in a variety of wildlife,” he says.
Indigenous plants do well without much extra attention or water. Natives usually need no fertilizer or pesticides; they often survive in poor soils and are generally long-lived. Henderson recommends purchasing native plants from a nursery within 50-75 miles of your home.
“One of my favorite native plants is the sweet black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia subtomentosa,)” says Bonnie Hinniker of Sunshine Gardens in Pine River, Minnesota. A big believer in landscaping with natives, Hinniker says these plants are much more tolerant of partial sun locations. Goldfinches flock to these sunny flowers late in the season for the seeds.
Grand Rapids Master Gardener Jennifer Behm is also fond of native plants. She and her young son and daughter experimented to find those monarch butterflies prefer. Last year they planted three butterfly plants side by side to see which one butterflies liked best—purple coneflower, swamp milkweed and Joe Pye-weed. “Swamp milkweed was the winner by far,” she says. Gardening with nature as she does, Behm notices that every year they are attracting more wildlife into the yard. “As we added flowers and more nectar plants, butterflies, snakes, toads, frogs and birds came in,” she says. They counted nine bird nests in the yard including cardinals, bluebirds, house finches and chickadees. “I think if you instill an appreciation for nature in your children when they’re young, they will grow up to be environmentally conscious and to conserve nature,” she says.
Wildlife foods are extremely important in the fall because they allow migratory birds to build up fat reserves prior to migration. Fruits of mountain ash, winterberry and buffaloberry provide fall foods and some shelter for birds like brown thrashers, robins, cedar waxwings and ducks. Many of the best winter wildlife foods don’t appeal to wildlife when they first appear, but they remain on trees and shrubs until they are needed.
Henderson calls elderberry, which is used by 40 songbird species, an “ice cream plant” because the birds eat the fruit as soon as it appears, whereas he refers to high bush cranberry as a “spinach plant” because the fruit is bitter when it first emerges but hangs on through the winter months becoming sweeter after a couple of hard frosts. Persistent fruits like black chokecherries, staghorn sumac and bittersweet provide winter wildlife foods.
Hutchins encourages the use of nest boxes and platforms, dead trees, fallen trees, brush piles, rock piles and bird feeders. Dead snags are now referred to as ‘wildlife trees,’ and they are very important to the overall health of our landscapes. “I’m a big advocate of dead wood to draw more than sixty species in Itasca County that feed and breed in dead wood,” Hutchins says. “It’s a big limiting factor, though, because we like nice, clean yards. Think structure, complexity, diversity and connectivity to and from the wild areas nearby. Reduce the size of your lawn.”
Once established, a natural landscape is ecologically responsible, easy to maintain and filled with opportunities for bird watching, photography and children’s activities. Consider going wild in your backyard.
Plants for Wildlife Food and Cover
Wild plum (Prunus americana)
Common chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)
American elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
Cattails (Typha spp.)
Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
Nannyberry (Virburnum lentago)
European highbush cranberry (Virburnum opulus)
Hummingbird and Oriole Plants
Scarlet trumpet honeysuckle ‘Dropmore’ (Lonicera X brownii)
Scarlet runner pole bean (Phaseolus coccineus)
Scarlet sage (Salvia splendens)
Fireweed (Aquilegia canadensis)
Beebalm (Monarda didyma)
Turk’s cap lily (Lilium superbum)
Butterfly, Bee and Moth Plants
New England aster Aster (novae-angliae)
Butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii)
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Gayfeather (Liatris spicata)
Spotted jewelweed (Impatiens biflora)
Black-eyed susan (Rudbekia hirta)
Showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa)
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Joe Pye-weed (Eupatorium maculatum)
“People need to think crooked to attract wildlife,” says Harry Hutchins, forestry instructor at Itasca Community College. “People are used to thinking in rows and rectangles. They’re accustomed to neatly manicured lawns and geometrically designed flower beds, and it’s hard for them to get used to randomly spaced, natural, informal plantings.” Hutchins was ahead of the curve when he designed an award-winning landscape for wildlife project on the ICC campus some 20 years ago. In today’s “green” environment, such landscaping is definitely in vogue.According to a recent U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service survey, birdwatching is the fastest growing outdoor activity in the United States today with 71 million Americans participating. A 2007 Audubon survey revealed that since 1967 the average population of common birds has fallen by 68%, and some individual species have nose-dived by 80%. Evening grosbeaks and purple martins are down 78% and eastern meadowlarks, down 71%. What better time for bird lovers to pitch in and help out.
Four key components are essential for attracting wildlife: food, water, cover and reproductive areas. Chuck Cedar of Hibbing surrounds his bird feeder with balsams. Water is the major limiting resource for wildlife, so consider including a birdbath, fountain or pond. Ponds will attract frogs, toads and salamanders as well as waterfowl and other birds. Adding water doubles wildlife use, and bubbling, splashing water doubles it again, according to Carrol Henderson, supervisor of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Non-Game Wildlife Divison and author of Landscaping for Wildlife, the definitive textbook on the topic for Midwesterners.
The Midwest is home to more than 120 different kinds of butterflies according to Duluthian Pat Thomas, founder of the Lake Superior chapter of the North American Butterfly Association. Thomas says we can help butterflies by planting goldenrod, asters, liatris and sunflowers. Butterflies prefer daisy-like flowers, large clusters of blooms on a stem and flat-topped flowers that provide a platform for them to perch on and easy access to nectar. Fragrant flowers attract them, and they like to visit stands of flowers with strong colors like orange, yellow and purple. Thomas calls ornamental butterfly houses ‘butterfly coffins’ because butterflies that hibernate in them are likely to be eaten by spiders or mice.
“If you are willing to expand your vision of what a garden plant should look like, even in a city lot environment you can create some interesting, effective local habitat that will attract wildlife,” says Hibbing’s Chuck Cedar who will plant swamp milkweed seed he collected. “If I’m successful, it could bring me Monarch butterflies,” he says, “and as an extra bonus, the plant itself is interesting and the flowers are fragrant and beautiful.” Cedar also recommends common milkweed—normally considered a roadside weed—and two kinds of thistle as bird, insect and hummingbird magnets. Cedar has watched goldfinches dine on his broccoli leaves and butterflies feed on stinging nettles. “The bottom line is, weeds can be beautiful and bring in a variety of wildlife,” he says.
Indigenous plants do well without much extra attention or water. Natives usually need no fertilizer or pesticides; they often survive in poor soils and are generally long-lived. Henderson recommends purchasing native plants from a nursery within 50-75 miles of your home.“One of my favorite native plants is the sweet black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia subtomentosa,)” says Bonnie Hinniker of Sunshine Gardens in Pine River, Minnesota. A big believer in landscaping with natives, Hinniker says these plants are much more tolerant of partial sun locations. Goldfinches flock to these sunny flowers late in the season for the seeds.
Grand Rapids Master Gardener Jennifer Behm is also fond of native plants. She and her young son and daughter experimented to find those monarch butterflies prefer. Last year they planted three butterfly plants side by side to see which one butterflies liked best—purple coneflower, swamp milkweed and Joe Pye-weed. “Swamp milkweed was the winner by far,” she says. Gardening with nature as she does, Behm notices that every year they are attracting more wildlife into the yard. “As we added flowers and more nectar plants, butterflies, snakes, toads, frogs and birds came in,” she says. They counted nine bird nests in the yard including cardinals, bluebirds, house finches and chickadees. “I think if you instill an appreciation for nature in your children when they’re young, they will grow up to be environmentally conscious and to conserve nature,” she says.
Wildlife foods are extremely important in the fall because they allow migratory birds to build up fat reserves prior to migration. Fruits of mountain ash, winterberry and buffaloberry provide fall foods and some shelter for birds like brown thrashers, robins, cedar waxwings and ducks. Many of the best winter wildlife foods don’t appeal to wildlife when they first appear, but they remain on trees and shrubs until they are needed.
Henderson calls elderberry, which is used by 40 songbird species, an “ice cream plant” because the birds eat the fruit as soon as it appears, whereas he refers to high bush cranberry as a “spinach plant” because the fruit is bitter when it first emerges but hangs on through the winter months becoming sweeter after a couple of hard frosts. Persistent fruits like black chokecherries, staghorn sumac and bittersweet provide winter wildlife foods.
Hutchins encourages the use of nest boxes and platforms, dead trees, fallen trees, brush piles, rock piles and bird feeders. Dead snags are now referred to as ‘wildlife trees,’ and they are very important to the overall health of our landscapes. “I’m a big advocate of dead wood to draw more than sixty species in Itasca County that feed and breed in dead wood,” Hutchins says. “It’s a big limiting factor, though, because we like nice, clean yards. Think structure, complexity, diversity and connectivity to and from the wild areas nearby. Reduce the size of your lawn.”
Once established, a natural landscape is ecologically responsible, easy to maintain and filled with opportunities for bird watching, photography and children’s activities. Consider going wild in your backyard.
----
Plants for Wildlife Food and Cover
Wild plum (Prunus americana)
Common chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)
American elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
Cattails (Typha spp.)
Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
Nannyberry (Virburnum lentago)
European highbush cranberry (Virburnum opulus)
Hummingbird and Oriole Plants
Scarlet trumpet honeysuckle ‘Dropmore’ (Lonicera X brownii)
Scarlet runner pole bean (Phaseolus coccineus)
Scarlet sage (Salvia splendens)
Fireweed (Aquilegia canadensis)
Beebalm (Monarda didyma)
Turk’s cap lily (Lilium superbum)
Butterfly, Bee and Moth Plants
New England aster Aster (novae-angliae)
Butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii)
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Gayfeather (Liatris spicata)
Spotted jewelweed (Impatiens biflora)
Black-eyed susan (Rudbekia hirta)
Showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa)
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Joe Pye-weed (Eupatorium maculatum)
posted by Katie Carter at
10:25 AM
<< Home