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If so, you may want to go native, keep it simple to begin with and build slowly, said Alice Simmons of Codorus Township.
“Start small. If you have an already existing bed, you may want to replant it with native plants or mix them in with what is there and see what difference they make. If you have plans to make a new bed, think about using all native plants,” she said.
If you are not familiar with native plants, there are local nurseries and garden centers that can help you, and additional help is available through organizations such as the Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation and Penn State Cooperative Extension.
“Take a list of natural plants with you and see what they look like. You want plants that will provide a natural food source for birds and butterflies,” she said.
Native plants are defined by the National Wildlife Federation as plants that have evolved to live in your area. There are more than 2,100 native plant species known in Pennsylvania.
There are those who might consider at least some native plants to be nothing more than weeds, but they
For example, the common milkweed is a source of food and nectar for butter-
flies and other insects and host to the monarch butterfly. Most people consider it to be a weed.
The butterfly milkweed, or Asciepias tuberose, also provides food and nectar for butterflies, bees, insects and hummingbirds, hosts the monarch and is an attractive alternative to the common milkweed, Simmons said.
“It is a very attractive plant with brilliant orange flowers in July and August. It is very nice as a border flower,” she said.
There are other varieties with red and yellow flowers that can be adapted into a garden, she said.
Several varieties of asters attract butterflies and insects and produce very colorful flowers, Simmons said.
The blue wood aster attracts butterflies, tree sparrows and rabbits and produces blue-violet flowers in the fall. The New England aster's pink and lavender flowers bloom from July to October and attract honeybees, butterflies and insects.
The red and yellow flowers of wild columbine bloom from April to June and attract hummingbirds, and bee balm's showy red flowers that bloom in July and August attract butterflies, have a pleasant scent and have herbal uses.
It is important to think of plants as food sources for bird and butterflies, Jacquelin Doyle said.
“Without your native plants, you don't have the birds and butterflies. For example, the native dogwood berries when the birds are migrating, and they depend on that as a food source,” Doyle said.
She is the owner of Doyle's Farm Nursery in Lower Chanceford Township. Mainly a mail-order business offering a variety of native plants, the nursery also offers a series of three garden talks geared to planting for butterflies, birds and wildlife, she said.
Butterflies are attracted to Joe Pye weed and goldenrod, but people think of them as weeds and shy away from planting them, she said.
“I know nobody wants to put them in the garden, but we have to think in terms of the native plants that attract birds, butterflies and wildlife if they are going to survive. With more and more development, our native plants are being
bulldozed and wildlife is being destroyed. You don't see the milkweeds and thistle that once grew along the roadways and in the fields. Farmers are spraying to get rid of those plants that the birds and butterflies depend on. Just by planting a small area of native plants in your backyard, you can make a big difference,” Doyle said.
The milkweed is the host plant for the monarch butterfly, she said. Without them, the monarch cannot exist. Birds avoid the plant because it is poisonous to them, thus providing a safe “nursery” for butterflies.
“If we don't have the milkweed, we don't have the monarch,” Doyle said.
Part of the problem might be that this area was rural agricultural land for generations and folks who were born and raised on farms have a problem with planting “weeds” in their gardens and backyards.
Doyle said she sells a lot more native plants to people in the areas of Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia than to residents of York County.
Feather your nest
FOR THOSE WHO ENJOY BIRD WATCHING, “The Old Farmer's Almanac All-Seasons Garden Guide” suggests:
· Aster - Late-summer to autumn daisy-like flowers develop tasty seed heads sought by cardinals, chickadees, finches and nuthatches.
· Goldenrod - Showy panicles of golden-yellow flowers appear from late summer to fall on clumps of upright to branching leafy stems, providing food and cover for birds. Its nectar-rich flowers attract insects, which are a feast for bluebirds, mockingbirds, warblers amd wrens; goldfinches and other small birds relish the seed heads.
· Common elderberry - Provides food, shelter, and nesting sites for more than 120 bird species. In early summer, large, umbel-shape heads of creamy-white flower clusters attract hummingbirds; late-summer to autumn's heavy crop of purple to black berries draw catbirds, orioles, robins, tanagers, thrashers, warblers, waxwings, and woodpeckers.
· Dogwood offers summer shelter and nesting sites. From late summer to fall and occasionally into winter, its small, fleshy fruit attracts more than 90 species of birds, including bluebirds, cardinals, grosbeaks, jays, sparrows, tanagers, thrushes, vireos, warblers, waxwings, and woodpeckers; some birds hunt for insects in the bark.
Recommended
TO ATTRACT BUTTERFLIES AND BIRDS, Jacquelin Doyle owner of Doyle Farm Nursery in Delta, recommends woodland phlox, native columbine, violets (host plant to the fritillary), native honeysuckle (hummingbirds), bee balm, Joe Pye weed, butterfly weed, common milkweed (host plant to the monarch), coneflower, garden phlox, gayfeather, black-eyed Susan, green-eyed coneflower, beard grass, bottlebrush grass, horsemint, passion vine, cardinal flower, great blue lobelia, mallow, Helen's flower, Dutchman's pipe, Boltonia Asteroides, goldenrod, turtlehead (host plant to the Baltimore checkersport), New York ironweed, perennial sunflower (seeds for birds), calico aster, New England aster, smooth aster.
“These are basically the native herbaceous plants that attract butterflies and birds, too. Don't forget you need insects for birds, too,” Doyle said.
“National Wildlife Federation Attracting Birds, Butterflies and other Backyard Wildlife” by David Mizejewski, is an excellent book for beginners, she said.
Doyle also provided the following most-valuable woody and perennial genera in terms of supporting biodiversity in the Mid-Atlantic region:
· Woody plants - oak, willow, black cherry, birch, poplar, crabapple, blueberry, maple, alder, elm, pine, hickory, hawthorn, spruce, ash, basswood, rose, filbert, walnut, beech, chestnut.
· Perennials - goldenrod, asters, sunflower, Joy Pye, boneset, morning glory, sedges, honeysuckle, lupine, violets, geraniums, black-eyed susan, iris, evening primrose, milkweed, verbena, beardtongue, phlox, bee balm, veronica, little bluestem, cardinal flower.
Doyle Farm Nursery
THREE OPEN HOUSE EVENTS are planned at Doyle Farm Nursery, 158 Norris Road, Lower Chanceford Township.
· May 4 and 5, open house with Tom Simmons, president of York Audubon Society will speak on planting native for more birds at 11 a.m. May 5.
· July 27 and 28, owner Jacquelin Doyle will talk about planting a meadow in your backyard to attract birds and butterflies at 11 a.m. July 28. Her talk will include a workshop and information on using landscaping plugs.
· Sept. 7 and 8, Master Gardener Vi Stailey will speak on migration of the monarch butterfly beginning at 11 a.m. Sept. 8.
Doyle Farm Nursery is a mail-order/wholesale, small native plant nursery. It is not a retail operation and is only open to the public during these open house events or by appointment. Everyone is invited to attend the open house events to buy plants, attend the free garden talks and check out the actively growing nursery, Doyle said.
E-mail jld@doylefarm.com, visit http://www.doylefarm.com or call 862-3134 for details.
