What’s a garden of flowers without butterflies flitting about, a hummingbird busily extracting nectar from flowers or a tree without a nest of birds? As you plan your container garden and select the plants you’ll grow, consider choosing some varieties that attract some winged friends to their nectar and foliage. You’ll add valuable benefits to the wildlife and hours of enjoyment for yourself.
Nectar from a flowering tree or perennial offers birds a steady source of nutrition – and you a steady form fascinating beauty.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Colorful annual and perennials often provide camouflage for bold, beautiful butterflies.
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Adding birdhouses provides shelter for your feathered friends, as well as another decorative feature to your garden. (Just be sure predators don’t have access to them, so you can keep your winged inhabitants safe.)
Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Want a visit from a hummingbird? Container gardens planted with nectar-bearing red flowers bring these “flying flowers” up close, allowing you to view them from a windowsill or garden bench, enjoy their playful antics, and watch them feed and drink from your bounty. If you’ve planted shrubs or trees, your blessings may extend to an intimate observation of birds’ nesting habits and progeny.
Butterflies are also attracted to bright colors and nectar-rich flowers such as red salvia and lantana – a hardy, easy-to-manage plant with small, colorful flowers (often in combination) that bloom in tight clusters against a deep green backdrop of broad, textured foliage. (Birds enjoy this perennial as well.) If you have space for a large pot, plant a butterfly bush and watch for swallowtails, skippers and other butterflies attracted to its clustered blossoms and sweet-smelling foliage.
In addition to flowers and their nectar, you can provide other food sources for our winged friends. Butterfly larvae, or caterpillars, need something to munch on (such as potted parsley) before they cocoon. The larvae also provide food for birds, as do beneficial bugs brought in to feast on destructive garden pests. Each species has designated “host” plants that attract them – for example, monarchs love milkweed. So read up on what butterflies like so you can invite them into your container garden with your plantings.
Installing other garden attractions, including feeders, birdhouses, water gardens and birdbaths, will welcome flying visitors to your plants while adding yet another enjoyable facet to your container garden. (Running water, by the way, is the No. 1 attraction for birds of all species – even a tabletop fountain can lure them in.)
Creating a container garden that invites winged wildlife into your outdoor living experience isn’t difficult: Just plant right, add water and let the flitting and fluttering begin!
