When I think of gardening with local critters in mind, I don't think about repelling them and that seems to be the type of post popping up most in this forum.
Let's talk about drawing in the critters we DO want!
What's your favorite hummingbird plant? Tell us why you like it, how to grow it, post a link if you can, if there's a variety you like best, etc.
I grow lots of sage - Salvia greggii. Likes lots of sun, even in TX and is very drought tolerant, must be well-drained. Will tolerate some shade, but won't bloom as well. Salvias draw in hummers and bees like crazy, also some butterflies. Native honeysuckle AKA coral honeysuckle - Lonicera sempervirens draws hummers like crazy, too, and is NOT invasive like the Asian honeysuckle.
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SAGR4
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=lose
What's your favorite butterfly plant and why, how to grow it, etc.
I have Gregg's blue mistflower - Eupatorium greggii - growing by my mailbox. It is covered with Gulf frittilaries, Queens and Monarchs most of the summer, along with loads of little guys - skippers of all sorts and plenty of bees but not so many that it scares the mail carrier. Watch it, though, it can be invasive by underground runners and it's not native.
https://www.westongardens.com/page%20content/plant%20library/greggs%20blue%20mistflower.htm
What's your favorite plant for attracting other pollinators?
Basils and mints are great pollinator attractors and I love using the plants as well. Homemade pesto is terrific from many different varieties of basil. Mints are very versatile and I love mint tea - lime mint and grapefruit mint is very refreshing in the summer and hot chocolate mint and spearmint combo is somehow more hearty in the winter. I use them fresh or dried. Obviously they are not native. Be careful because basil can be invasive by seed. Mints can be VERY invasive by root or by seed, I highly recommend growing them only on pots or contained by wide (or deep) concrete/sidewalks. Mints will grow right out of the bottom of a pot, so don't set their pot on bare ground unless you want mint growing in that spot forever.
PLEASE remember to post your zone/area if you don't have it in your profile.
Tag, you're it!
ATTRACTING local critters!
Last edited by Odd Duck on Thu Jan 20, 2011 1:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
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- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
For hummingbirds red annual salvia and bee balm, honeysuckle trumpet vine, trumpet creeper. I grow cardinal climber vine on a trellis on our deck so that the hummingbirds come up on the deck with us.
For butterflies milkweed/butterfly flower, joe pye weed, sedum/stonecrop for fall flowering. Our big old hackberry tree is host for a number of butterfly caterpillars; clover is host for a number of others. And as was mentioned all the things in the carrot family: carrots, parsley, dill, fennel, Queen Anne's lace.
For bees best is letting the herbs flower some - basil, oregano, sage all draw bees as does anise hyssop and other things in the mint family. When the wild grape vine flowered, it was covered in bees (as well as many other flyers, it was also a great trap crop for the Japanese beetles). I tried growing borage last year and the bees still preferred the herb flowers to the borage, so I'm not doing it again this year (it was weedy and aggressive).
I also grow things with seeds the birds like as well as putting out bird seed. Important for habitat is having water sources available. We have bird baths front and back, a small artificial pond and a big natural pond.
For animals, nut trees are an important food source and having cover is important. A lot of the brush I cut goes into brush piles along the property edges, which provides wildlife habitat.
For butterflies milkweed/butterfly flower, joe pye weed, sedum/stonecrop for fall flowering. Our big old hackberry tree is host for a number of butterfly caterpillars; clover is host for a number of others. And as was mentioned all the things in the carrot family: carrots, parsley, dill, fennel, Queen Anne's lace.
For bees best is letting the herbs flower some - basil, oregano, sage all draw bees as does anise hyssop and other things in the mint family. When the wild grape vine flowered, it was covered in bees (as well as many other flyers, it was also a great trap crop for the Japanese beetles). I tried growing borage last year and the bees still preferred the herb flowers to the borage, so I'm not doing it again this year (it was weedy and aggressive).
I also grow things with seeds the birds like as well as putting out bird seed. Important for habitat is having water sources available. We have bird baths front and back, a small artificial pond and a big natural pond.
For animals, nut trees are an important food source and having cover is important. A lot of the brush I cut goes into brush piles along the property edges, which provides wildlife habitat.
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Oh and very important... use all native plants or as much as you can.
Read Doug Tallamy Bringing Nature Home and/or Sara Stein Noah's Garden, about the benefits of natives and the fact that insects and other critters that did not evolve with a certain plant cannot eat/benefit from it. So having native plants in your garden will attract lots of insects and the birds and other critters that eat the insects. Having alien/ exotic plants will starve out all the wildlife.
Read Doug Tallamy Bringing Nature Home and/or Sara Stein Noah's Garden, about the benefits of natives and the fact that insects and other critters that did not evolve with a certain plant cannot eat/benefit from it. So having native plants in your garden will attract lots of insects and the birds and other critters that eat the insects. Having alien/ exotic plants will starve out all the wildlife.
>For animals, nut trees are an important food source and having cover is important. A lot of the brush I cut goes into brush piles along the property edges, which provides wildlife habitat.<
We've been gardening on our present property for nearly 20 years and have only seen a few red foxes and then only for a few seconds. Well for some reason the last 2 months have brought a pair of beautiful red foxes into our garden about 7 times this Dec and Jan--and they have come right up to our picture windows so we have observed them really close--I can't explain why this has happened but it has just been wonderful. We've observed how gracefully they run through the snow, bound up and down a bank we have close to the house and even some playful as well as sexual encounters they have been involved in. Regards, Len
We've been gardening on our present property for nearly 20 years and have only seen a few red foxes and then only for a few seconds. Well for some reason the last 2 months have brought a pair of beautiful red foxes into our garden about 7 times this Dec and Jan--and they have come right up to our picture windows so we have observed them really close--I can't explain why this has happened but it has just been wonderful. We've observed how gracefully they run through the snow, bound up and down a bank we have close to the house and even some playful as well as sexual encounters they have been involved in. Regards, Len
>use all native plants or as much as you can. <
WE get into NYC alot and I can't recommend enough what they've done with the Highline project--extends from the meat market area to 23rd st and will be extended--they've used only native plants for the landscaping and the views of the Hudson are just wonderful. Regards, Len
WE get into NYC alot and I can't recommend enough what they've done with the Highline project--extends from the meat market area to 23rd st and will be extended--they've used only native plants for the landscaping and the views of the Hudson are just wonderful. Regards, Len
The best plant I've seen for attracting hummingbirds is a big flowering thistle plant. There was one that got about 6 feet tall right on the other side of our property line. I'd see hummingbirds stopping there a couple of times a day. The farmer who owns the property directly behind us uses that field to grow clover. When they're in bloom, the field is just covered in butterflies. I'm going to try my luck at growing flowers this year to try to lure more of them in towards our property, but I traditionally don't do well with flowers. I've going to try morning glories, moonflower, Chinese lantern, foxglove, seetpea, and maybe some others as well as different wildflower mixes. I've got mint I'll grow in containers and basil, sage, carrots, dill, oregano, and parsley in the garden, so hopefully that will bring in plenty of pollinators. Bees seem to love our mulberry trees too. If the berries are left on the ground, that brings in insects, which brings in the barn swallows, grackles, and toads and such. I'm not sure what is attracting the blue jays, cardinals and other songbirds, but if I figure it out I'll let everyone know. Right now I'm still working on getting rid of some of the other critters. I think I've made a dent in the gopher population, but there's still plenty left. And if I completely get rid of them the redtail hawk might stop coming around. 
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