Wildlife-Friendly Food

Comment

Comment by Wild Flora on January 2, 2010 at 3:42pm

A lot of the old-fashioned annuals can be grown in pots and will attract beneficial insects: marigolds, petunias, salvias, alyssum, etc. Just try to get the old varieties rather than the newer, fancier ones. Herbs are also popular with beneficial insects: thyme, rosemary, oregano, fennel, dill, etc.

Comment by Anna Bryony on January 2, 2010 at 2:54pm

Thanks everyone! I'll bear your thoughts in mind. I just have a small back yard that is completely filled with gravel, but I have left my pots out and I hope to add some more this year :] I had a tub filled with cornflowers, the bees seemed to enjoy those!

Comment by Wild Flora on December 31, 2009 at 11:25am

I had never heard of poached eggplant (Limnanthes douglasii), aka Douglas' meadowfoam, until Glenn mentioned it. But evidently it's an excellent plant for attracting bees and other beneficial insects. According to the US Department of Agricultlure, it's native in California and Oregon. It requires moist soils (it's native to wet areas), likes sun, and will grow in zones 7-9 (which helps to explain why this nothern gardener had never heard of it). The flowers, which are shown in Glenn's photo, are charming.
That being said, one of the main things to remember in gardening for wildlife is that native animals are adapted to life with native plants. So the insects, birds, and other animals that are native in your area will benefit most if you plant the plants that are native in your area.

Comment by Glenn Fletcher on December 31, 2009 at 10:33am

I think poached egg plants are good for attracting insects, especially hoverflies. They have a nice open flower. Their seed is really large and easy to save for the following year.

Comment by Wild Flora on December 31, 2009 at 9:59am

Susan makes excellent points. Other ways to provide shelter for insects, birds, and other wildlife include: make rock piles (good place to plant plants that like good drainage); leave rotting tree stumps, fallen logs, and dead or dying trees, especially if they have holes in them (and of course only if they aren't a hazard); declare some parts of your property to be "no mow" areas; pile branches and other clippings to make brush piles. And of course, if you want to encourage insects and all the wildlife that eat insects, it's important to avoid pesticides.

Comment by Susan Singley on December 31, 2009 at 8:17am

Additinally, if you don't tidy up your yard in the fall, you will provide shelter for insects. So, leave your pots out through the winter to shelter any critters that crawled under or inside. You'll want to make sure you have a shallow water source, too.
In general, if you provide native food, shelter, and water--somebody will show up to enjoy it.

Comment by Wild Flora on December 30, 2009 at 5:48pm

Different plants tend to encourage different insects but in general you want to use plants that are native to your area and/or the "old-fashioned" or "cottage garden" varieties of plants instead of new introductions with fancy new colors, sizes, or shapes. If you tell me what type of insects you're trying to attract, I could be more specific.

Comment by Anna Bryony on December 29, 2009 at 7:31pm

Does anyone have suggestions of plants to encourage insects? My back garden looks a little dead [it is full of gravel so I plant in pots]. I am looking forward to my daffodils coming back in a couple of months ^^

Comment by Wild Flora on September 5, 2009 at 9:33am

As it happens, I wrote a long item about moving a bumblebee nest for my blog at http://www.wildgardeners.blogspot.com. The instructions are for moving a bumblebee nest, but they might work for "drover" bees too. (I'm not familiar with that type of bee.) The instructions are under "Q&A" on the right-hand side of the page.

Comment by Grant on August 15, 2009 at 3:45am

Hi, moving some old trees behind the cottage and found bees nest. Checked the books and they are 'drover' type. Very friendly chaps and made a hive box to encourage them to move. Any ideas?

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