Attracting Butterflies & Hummingbirds

Butterflies LOVE Blanketflower

Butterflies:

• Fly up to 12 miles per hour
• Range in size from an 1/8 in. to almost 12 in.
• Cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees
• Include 24,000 species

 For more information about attracting Butterflies to you garden, visit the Xerces Society.

Also, visit Gardens with Wings and enter your zip code to identify local Butterfly species and a list of their favorite host and nectar plants.

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are absolutely amazing! Noted for their irridescent coloring, zippy flight, ability to fly backwards, and hover while feeding, these dimunitive birds also migrate thousands of miles annually. Hummingbirds have such a high metabolic rate that they daily consume their body weight in food.

We can deliberately invite these delightful visitors into our yards by planting their preferred flowers - starting with the color red, to which they are magnetically attracted. By planting flowers whose nectar hummingbirds seek, we not only feed hungry birds, but also help pollinate plants - while those long slender bills are seeking nectar down a tubular flower, the hummingbirds are inadvertently picking up pollen that they will then transfer to the next flower.

Recipe for hummingbird feeders:

Boiled solution of one part sugar to four parts water. Do not use red dye, and do not substitute honey for sugar, as it may produce a fungal disease fatal to hummingbirds.

Insects in the Garden

Many insects are not the pests we imagine them to be. In fact, they are often beneficial. Bees are necessary for pollination and, by eating nectar, produce scrumptious honey. Others, like ladybugs and praying mantises, eat pest insects and keep their population under control. The songbirds and hummingbirds you lure to your garden also need insects for survival.