Home of the Practically Perfect Pink Phlox and other native plants for pollinators

Friday, January 7, 2011

Gardening For Wildlife

grasses, native perennials, shrubs and trees abound in the garden
I've worked hard to create a garden filled with native plants that  will thrive the difficult conditions at clay and limestone~You know that shallow clay soil that sits atop a limestone bedrock....  I think I've done a pretty good job~ 


The birds aren't complaining!
Little Asters Everywhere
Not only is there a delicious buffet of seedheads, there's also  tasty treats at the feeders.




 Butterflies and bumbles find nectaring flowers throughout the growing season.



Viburnum rufidulum
Shrubs  and native trees are a big part of the garden.  Did you know that Rusty Blackhaw and other native viburnums provide food for over 10 species of moths,  more then a dozen birds and several mammals and  some of the "cuter rodents"? (cute and rodent is of course an oxymoron)







 Dead trees have been left standing.  There are brush piles for nesting and protection.


 
Butterfly weed a host and nectar plant
Host plants for moths and butterflies are carefully chosen.



In fact, nearly every plant   has been chosen with birds, insects and other critters in mind....including humans.





It's a pretty good garden for critters.



I think the squirrels would agree! 


xxoogail

31 comments:

  1. Great article, Gail! I know your critters all appreciate your hard work on this! And I LOVE that photo of the Black Swallowtail caterpillar. Wonderful close-up!

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  2. LOVE it!!!
    Al the photos are so pretty!

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  3. The photos, and text, are superb, dear Gail! Who wouldn't be happy at Clay and Limestone? It looks heavenly. :-)
    xxxooo
    Frances

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  4. Gail, you post was delightful as usual. You photos are stunning..I look forward to the day I can visit C & L. H.

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  5. Dear Gail,I admire so much your store of knowledge on natives and the critters they feed. Your monarch caterpillar capture is the picture I was trying to get :)

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  6. Great photos! Love the milkweed seed and I wasn't aware that so many species eat the rusty blackhaw -- can't blame them since the berries look so plummy I want to eat it, too!

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  7. It's also a great garden for people. Your photos are just incredible, especially the caterpillar munching.

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  8. Cute rodent? Haven't seen one of those...lol What a great photo of the Skipper, well actually all of your photos are superb Gail. I think I'll just get me a cot and come right over..

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  9. I'm going to look into Viburnum rufidulum. Gail, I always learn something from your blog.

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  10. Love the berries on the viburnum! I'm always a big fan of those shrubs. The remaining petals on your asters remind me of your bottle tree!

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  11. These images are really wonderful, especially the cute one with the squirrel (thief) tail . I am sure I know your feeling on this guy. I battle them at my feeders too. The asters in seed was a pretty shot. Mine flowered up until it snowed, so no seed heads here.

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  12. Beautiful photos Gail. We still have a few aster seed heads here, although not many are left. I used to feed the squirrels...um...I mean birds, but darn those squirrels can eat a lot. Here the birds weren't getting most of the seed, so now I concentrate on making sure there are sufficient garden-based food resources instead! I do somewhat miss watching a determined squirrel raiding a feeder though, as their antics can be quite amusing.

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  13. Oh, I'd wish to be a bird in your garden, what a buffet of moths, berries, seedheads... But, alas, I'm a mouse (one of the cuter rodents, I hope...)

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  14. What a cute last picture. And I love the blue bottle tree against those copper-colored grasses. Beautiful, Gail.

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  15. Your garden is always an inspiration to me. Love seeing those blooms especially since we are in the deep freeze right now. Brrrr.

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  16. Those Little Asters complement your bottle tree very nicely

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  17. What a delightful post, Gail! I love the last shot of the squirrel. And I was so happy to see the close-up of the swallowtail catt--this former wormaphobe has gotten to be best friends with these little critters, and they're so obliging about letting me take their picture, too.

    I've been poring through gardening books looking for ideas for a new garden bed this year and soaking up all the suggestions about color, focal points, and so on. But this is what a garden should be, too--a place in harmony with nature that invites all living things to come and enjoy. Well done, Gail!

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  18. I love your bottle tree! I too have tried to plan and design my garden to make it attractive to wildlife. I get such pleasure from seeing the birds, squirrels and chipmunks that visit.

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  19. I'm sure the wildlife is happy in your garden, who wouldn't be? Beautiful shots of the caterpillar and butterfly weed seed. Every time I see Viburnum rufidulum on your blog I think I must try it. Very cute picture of the squirrel. :)

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  20. Dear Gail, I do hope all your critters appreciate your great efforts. I guess they do not really know that sort of thing but regardless they are thriving in part due to your hard work. A beautiful and resourceful post! Your photos are wonderful especially the Milkweed seed! Stunning!

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  21. True success! Keeping all creatures happy is just in your nature.

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  22. Yes, dear Gail. You have done an awesome job! Like Helen, someday I dream of visiting :)

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  23. Gail, what a wonderful post! Seeing your caterpillar pic made me long for springtime and those jolly fellows munching on the dill!

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  24. Beautiful post Gail! I love your photo essay with the well chosen words for each. The grasses with the lighting through them are wonderful and the aster seed heads are a real treat for your visitors. You really do justice to Gardening for the wildlife which are all so lucky to have you.

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  25. Gail, it is always such a joy to come and visit and enjoy your habitat. ;)

    Wonderful for us is that more and more birds of different varieties are finding us here in the PNW. I simply cannot get enough of them.

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  26. Wonderful pictures. The way you garden is inspirational, showing you can have somewhere beautiful to humans that also plays host to a vast array of animal life. Puts paid to the idea that to garden for wildlife you have to have a messy overgrown patch lacking any of the beauty we associate with a "real garden". I love it.

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  27. How rewarding,Gail. You have been a great inspiration for me learning how to plant more natives blending them in with Florida-Friendly plants. Your photos capture the essence of your garden so well.
    Meems

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  28. Don't know if you're aware--I saw it on Twitter-this post was placed on another website: http://www.sectlandscaping.com/topics/gardening-for-wildlife/
    Hope you gave them permission!

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"Insects are the little things that run the world." Dr. E O Wilson