Garden Experiments
For the love of gardening and wildlife habitat
Gardening with wildlife and creating wildlife habitat in your backyard or garden can bring you a lot of joy. I love to watch the birds, butterflies, frogs, lizards, bees, and small mammals visit my garden, even if it means I sometimes lose a few plants. These articles talk about how to create backyard habitat, what plants can help wildlife in your garden, and even talks about some of the critters you might see in your garden.
Butterflies and bees love coneflowers in the genus Echinacea. You are probably familiar with purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), but many cultivars are now available in various colors: red, pink, white, orange, yellow, cream, green, and gold. There are even Echinacea flowers with double blooms. Natives vs Cultivars Echinacea is native …
Continue Reading about Echinacea species – Flowering plants for bees, butterflies, and birds
If you like butterflies, than planting both plants that host the larvae and feed the butterflies are important. These are some of the flowering herbaceous plants (and one vine) suitable for planting in the southeast for the butterflies that we have here. Flowering plants that are host to larvae of the butterfly Flowering plants that provide …
Continue Reading about Food Plants for Butterflies and Caterpillars
The plants in the genus Salvia are some of my favorite flowering plants. There are many colors and shapes to choose from when picking a plant for your garden. Salvias are great pollinator plants - butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds love the flowers. Here are some of my favorites from my garden. All salvias mentioned below are perennial in USDA …
Continue Reading about Salvia Flowers Attract Butterflies and Hummingbirds
If you want to add some color to your winter garden and provide food and shelter for songbirds and other wildlife simultaneously, American Holly (Ilex opaca) is a good choice. The berries form in October and persist throughout the winter when many other food sources are gone. Its leaves are evergreen and form a dense canopy. The bright red …
Continue Reading about Plant American Holly for Winter Color and Wildlife Food
Want something fun to do while your garden is sleeping this winter? How about signing up for Project Feeder Watch? If you live in North America, you can participate in collecting data that helps scientists determine changes in bird distribution and abundance. This is a great way to teach your kids about scientific data collection and bird …
For me, half of the fun of having a garden is watching the critters that come to enjoy it. Here are some of the critters that have shown up in my garden (and my family's garden) in the last couple of years. Learn more about backyard habitat by reading these articles Food plants for caterpillars and butterflies How to Create Good Wildlife …
Continue Reading about Backyard Wildlife: The Critters in My Garden
