Attracting Wildlife to Your Garden

Butterflies

A butterfly’s goal in life is to lay more eggs. When they emerge from their chyrsalis they are full grown and only seek food for the energy to fly. Therefore, butterflies are attracted to food sources and host plants suitable for laying their eggs on. Host plants are the ones that the caterpillar will feed on until it is time for it to make it’s chrysalis. Butterflies also like to puddle. They like to land on a muddy area and sip the water and minerals. This can be accomplished by hanging a bucket of water with a small hole in it over a sandy area. Rocks are used by the butterflies as as a place to bask in the sun, their wings need to be warmed to fly. Never use insecticides in your garden.When keeping monarchs indoors for tagging they can be fed 20% honey/water solution, or Juicy-Juice

What to include in a butterfly garden:

• Nectar plants for food (see list below)
• Host plants for larva (see list below)
• Wet sand or mud for puddling
• Rocks for warming
• Water – shallow container with pebbles and water

Reference Sources:

• The Butterflies of Indiana, Ernest M. Shull
• NK Gardening to Attract Birds and Butterflies, Peggy Henry
• The Butterfly Book, Donald and Lillian Stokes and Ernest Williams

Birds

Provide them with water, shelter, and food and you will have a habitat for birds. Some of the flowers attractive to butterflies are also attractive to hummingbirds. Also, some of the flowers produce seeds which are a food source for Finches. Shrubs and vines will provide nesting and hiding places for many birds. Those that carry berries into the winter provide winter time food sources, such as Japanese barberry, rugosa rose and spirea. Evergreen shrubs, such as junipers, provide nesting. If you are not attracting butterflies to your garden and would like the birds to help eat your garden pests you can provide them with a water source near your plants. The feeder you use for suet in the winter can be used for nesting supplies in the summer, by placing bits of string and yarn inside of it. Leaving leaf litter under bushes provides ground feeders, such as robins, thrushes and sparrows a place to scratch for food  If you want to attract both birds and butterflies to your garden, remember to put the bird’s eating source away from your butterfly area. Birds eat caterpillars!

Hummingbirds

Making Your Own Sugar Water

1 part sugar
4 parts water

Boil the water first, then add the sugar. The boiling water will ensure that your nectar stays fresh longer and retards fermentation. Add the sugar to the water after it has boiled. Don’t boil the sugar and water together. Doing so will cause some of the water to evaporate and will create nectar that is too concentrated. If the nectar is too sweet it can damage a bird’s liver.

Hang the container in the shade and out of the wind if possible. Clean the container and refill weekly. Clean with soap and water or a 10% bleach solution or 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water.

DO NOT use honey, it causes fungus to grow.
DO NOT use artificial sweeteners.
DO NOT use food coloring.

Continue to feed the hummingbirds until they have all migrated, this could be October or November.
It is a myth that they will stay to eat and miss the migration. They know when to leave and need as much energy as possible to make their journey.Leaving your hummingbird feeder up until October will not prevent hummingbirds from migrating, but will increase your chances of seeing species that you normally don’t see as they are passing through.

In the following list, flowers listed as nectar plants atttract many species of butterflies. Caterpillars are particular about which leaves they eat and so the butterfly is named for the host plants.

Wild Life Friendly Annuals and Perennials

P=perennial, A=annual, BI=biennial, H=herb

Wild Life Friendly Shrubs and trees