First Wednesday Challenge: Gardening Is For The Birds

 

 ...and for the bees, beetles, insects, mammals, spiders and other critters that live and visit our gardens. 

This month's challenge is all about birds. February is National Bird Feeding Month. The month was created to educate the public on the seasonal journeys of birds, and for people to provide some aid at the height of winter when birds need it most.

How and when did this designation begin? Turns out it all started in February of 1994 when John Porter, a Republican representative from Illinois, proposed it in the United States House of Representatives. Go here to read his proclamation.

 

This year’s theme is “Winter Comforts — Feed the Birds and Keep Them Happy and Healthy.” I think it's a fabulous  theme. Don't you!

 

Here's an Incomplete list of things we can do to feed the birds and keep them happy and healthy:

1. Plant native plants that not only provide food for birds, but are also host plants for the insects that most birds need to feed their young.
2. Reducing lawns: With more than 63 million acres of lawn and 4 million miles of paved road in the U.S. alone, there is huge potential to support wildlife by replacing lawns with native plants.
3. Clean your feeders. Get you hummingbird feeeders cleaned and ready for hummers. 
4. Keep your feeders filled with food birds prefer. Our bird visitors especially love The best foods include sunflower seeds, thistle, nuts, suet, and millet. Our bluebirds love mealy worms.
5. Sweets, bread, popcorn, and potato chips are not healthy for birds.
   
6. Make sure the bird food is fresh and not moldy after sitting in the feeders for long periods of time.
   
7. Always have fresh water...year round. I use a heater for my birdbaths. They work.
8. Clean out bird houses and repair them if necessary.
9. Get binoculars to observe the birds in your garden and at the feeders
10. Take photos and share them on social media and your neighborhood listserves.
11. Get your  kids/grandkids involved. The Audubon Society has a list of kid friendly bird id books.
12. Learn bird songs
13. Use Merlin the free Bird Id ap to help you id bird calls and songs.
14.  Turn lights out at night...This is especially helpful while birds are migrating 
15. Treat large reflective windows to keep birds from crashing in to them.
16. Keep your cat indoors. Cats are estimated to kill more than 2.4 billion birds annually in the U.S. 
17. Cornell Lab suggests we switch to bird friendly coffees. Go here to find out whys.  
18. Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count February 16-19th, 2024. Sign up for a GBYBC webinar
19. Be smart and read about how to prevent diseases at the feeder. 
20. Get involved with groups/organizations that are working to protect birds.
21. Never use rodenticides. They pose a big threat to birds of prey due to rodents being a primary source of their food.
    
22. Never, ever, ever use pesticides. I mean never.
    

 xoxogail

Here's a recap of what the First Wednesday Monthly Challengeis all about.

Want to Take the Taking Care of Wildlife In Our Gardens Challenge?

The first part of this challenge is to do something, even lots of things each month that support the critters living in our gardens. Gardening with native wildflowers, shrubs and trees that make sense for our ecoregion is a good place to start or continue (as the case may be). Plants and their pollinators are a classic example of mutualism: they have coevolved through evolutionary time in a reciprocal beneficial relationship. This is also true for other critters that visit and live in our gardens. 

Activities that increase our knowledge of the natural world are equally as valuable. Helping others learn about nature is included. Golly gee whiz, there are so many things you can do. 

The second part of the challenge is to post about it somewhere: Your blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or even your neighborhood listserve. Wouldn't an article in the local paper be a coup for nature! Why post it? Because positive publicity is needed to educate our friends, neighbors and communities about how important even the smallest changes we make as gardeners can be for pollinators, birds, insects and mammals, including humans, that live all around us. 

Why now? My neighborhood is changing. Yours might be, too. Every day an older home along with many (if not all) of the mature oak, hickory, maple, Eastern cedar and hackberry trees are cut down. Insects, birds, even mammals lose their home site and food supplies when we lose trees. During construction soil is compacted by bulldozers, trucks and piles of debris cause runoff; surface runoff that can carry pollution to streams and rivers. It's important that our neighbors and our community have information about how important trees are to our ecosystem. Trees contribute to their environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife.

In place of the "bee lawns" composed of Claytonia, Salvia lyrata, Ruellia humilis, fleabane, Western Daisy, Violets, self-heal, clovers, native grasses (in my neighborhood it's poverty oat grass) and sedges, they're being sodded with non-native grasses. These monoculture turf lawns contribute nothing environmentally. Here's what we lose when our diverse lawns are replaced with pristine turf grass:

• Gone are the lightening bugs.
• Gone are the ground dwelling/nesting native bees.
• Gone is the habitat for insects, spiders and other critters. 
• Gone is plant diversity. 
• Gone are trees that provided for hundreds of moths, butterflies and other insects.
• Gone are the nesting sites for woodpeckers, hummingbirds, Chickadees and other birds. 
• Gone is a healthy foodweb.
  

 It breaks my heart. 

We can't stop the progmess, but, maybe we can make a lot of educational noise and help our new neighbors see the value in providing for critters and ultimately helping the environment.

A gardener can hope! 

xoxoGail

Here's an incomplete list of things you might consider doing or changing in your garden, and things you can do for and/or in your community. But don't limit yourself to my list, make your own list or check out the internet for ideas.

 

Looking for ways to get involved go here for a list of environmental advocacy groups.

Buy the best wildflower, butterfly and bird id books for your state.

Read nature books to your children and grandchildren. Buy them nature books.

Get in the garden with your children and grandchildren.

Give nature books as baby shower gifts (Nature books for infants and toddlers)

Shrink your lawn and make your planting beds larger.

Plant your favorite native perennials and shrubs. Leave them standing after they've gone to seed to continue to provide for wildlife. What you plant in your yard makes a difference to wildlife. I garden for wildlife so every tree, shrub and plant is chosen with wildlife in mind.

 

Plant more natives and then consider planting even more. "A typical suburban landscape contains only 20-30% native plant species. Try reversing that trend in your own landscape by using 70-80% native species." (source) 

Plant for bloom from late spring to early winter. Bees are most active from February to November (longer in mild climates) late winter blooming Hamamelis vernalis and the earliest spring ephemerals (like the toothworts, hepaticas, spring beauties, and False rue-anemeone) are perfect plants for a variety of pollinators.

Commit to never, ever, ever, ever using pesticides in the garden.

Stay away from native plant hybrids and cultivars that are double flowered. They are sterile and have no pollen or nectar for insects and no seeds for the birds. If possible plant “true open-pollinated native wildflowers”

If you want to garden for wildlife and pollinators, don't let lack of space stop you! Plant your favorite wildflowers in large containers. You just might have the prairie or woodland garden you've always wanted...in a pot!
 
Create a water feature. Provide water year round that is accessible to birds, bees and other critters.

Make a rain garden in low spots to collect and mitigate runoff.

Show some soil! Our native ground nesting bees nest in bare soil, so don't mulch every square inch of your garden. 

Get rid of the plastic weed barriers in your garden, it's not good for anything.

Invite bugs into your garden. Plant annuals that attract beneficial bugs.

 

Learn to tolerate damaged plants. Imperfection is the new perfect.

Don't be in a rush to clean up the fall garden. Leave plant stalks and seed heads standing all winter. Leave those fallen leaves or as many as you can tolerate! Insects over winter in the fallen and decaying leaves. Leave a layer of leaves as a soft landing material under trees for moths and butterflies to over winter. Many caterpillars drop to the ground from the trees in the fall and need a soft landing site and a place to live over the winter.

Allow a fallen tree to remain in the garden. Limbs on the ground are a perfect shelter for small animals such as rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels and a habitat for beetles, termites and other insects.

Make a brush pile. Stack fallen brush, cut tree limbs, broken pots for ground beetles. Ground beetles are excellent at eating "bad bugs". Bugs are also good bird, toad and small critter food. 

Rethink what you consider a pest. Lots of good bugs eat aphids. Spiders are important predators and they're great bird food!

Add nesting boxes for birds. 

Turn off your yard up-lighting, eave lights and porch lights after 11pm. This is important for nocturnal critters including mammals, snakes, insects, bats, birds (especially during migration). (Birdcast suggestions)

Plant shrubs and small trees that provide berries and nuts.

Keep a nature journal: You can observe visitors to your water feature, make note of when they visit. Notice which flowers attract the most pollinators and which ones are just pretty faces. 

Join your state native plant society (Tennessee Native Plant Society)

Join WildOnes even if there's no local group you can join the national organization.  (Middle Tennessee WildOnes)

Support your local native plant sellers. (GroWild in middle Tennessee, Overhill Gardens in east Tennessee,  Resource Guide TN Native Plant Society)

Encourage your local garden clubs to offer native plant talks.

If your garden club has a plant sale encourage them to sell more native plants.

Get trained as a naturalist (Tennessee Naturalist Program. Almost every state has their own Master Naturalist training program

Take an online course on tree, fungi and wildflower id. 

Take an online course on designing with native plants.

Take a walk in your neighborhood and observe nature. To quote Joanna Brichetto in Sidewalk Nature "Look Around. Nature is here, is us, our driveways, our baseboards, parks, and parking lots."

Read! There are hundreds of books on gardening for wildlife, the environment, and rewilding our world. There are delightful blogs with wonderful and informative articles.

If you are already gardening with wildlife in mind then add a few signs that help educate your neighbors. (Xerces Society, Pollinator Partnership)

Join the Xerces Society.

Set up an information station where neighbors can pick up brochures about your garden and other info. 

Get certified (National Wildlife Federation, check to see what your state offers)

Support trees by joining the effort to make sure developers don't remove more trees than are necessary for their project. Work to make sure there are tree removal permits and that they are actually enforced in your community.

 

 

 

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wildflower Wednesday: Verbesina virginica

It's rough and tumble wildflower time in my garden.

The take care of themselves Autumn beauties are beginning to bloom and our wildflower star, Verbesina virginica is looking its wildflower best, dressed in white flowers and wearing nature's late summer visiting jewels.

If you're new to Clay and Limestone, rough and tumble wildflowers are simple wildflowers that bloom their hearts out and require the easiest of care. Many have never been hybridized, which means they haven't had their best characteristic bred out of them.

Rough and tumble wildflowers, like Frostweed, are doing the job nature intended them to do, which is to make a lot of food (nectar and/or pollen) and bloom exactly when the critters need it. Once bloom is past and the seeds ripen, they become feeding stations for over wintering birds which seek out those seeds.

I know you'll agree with me when I say, nature's design is amazing.

landing pads of deliciousness

Verbesina virginica is a native herbaceous biennial/perennial in the Asteraceae/Sunflower family. It has clusters of white ray florets and white disk florets with noticeably contrasting purplish-black anthers.

Its leaves are dark green with rough surfaces and toothed margins and are oppositely arranged.

Its stem is distinctive in that it has wing-like flanges running along its length. If you live in its native range, you've probably seen it along roadways or in natural areas and parks. It can be found on streams and river banks, bluff bases, bottomland and upland forests, pastures, railroads, roadsides, prairies, and in forest openings. It is most common in areas with neutral or basic soils (Soil which is in the range from slightly acid to slightly alkaline, usually considered to be in the range of pH values from 6.6 to 7.3).

 seed feeding station of Frostweed, Rudbeckias, Cup plant and yet to bloom ex-asters and Goldenrods

 That means it's very happy, maybe, even too happy in my garden.

Verbesina virginica is a blooming magnet for all kinds of insects, including some insects that are themselves food for spiders, birds and other insect eating critters.

Bumble Bees love it. Green Metallic bees love it. Giant Carpenter Bees love it. Butterflies love it. In fact, it's an essential late summer/early fall nectar food for all visiting pollinators and it's an especially important food for the Monarch Butterfly. It's has been selected for monitoring by Monarch Watch an organization devoted to education, conservation and research about/for the Monarch Butterfly.

We all know that adult butterflies depend upon their host plant to raise their larval young.   Caterpillars won’t just eat any leaf and each butterfly species has specific plants that their caterpillars will eat. During migration blooming nectar plants are even more valuable to Monarch butterflies than their non-blooming host plants. Frostweed and other rough and tumble plants provide the nectar they need for energy to fly thousands of miles.

Flattened fruits have winged margins and two awns

Verbesina virginica also provides ripe seeds for over wintering birds that live in and stop by our gardens. So don't be so eager to chop them down in November. Let them stand until late winter or early spring.

Photo courtesy of Meredith O'Reilly

Verbesina virginica has many common names, three of which, Frostweed, Iceplant, Iceweed hint at something wintry about our star.

Aren't these ice candy ribbons incredible! They're provided by Frostweed.

Imagine a beautiful late fall day. It's warm, the sun is shining and Verbesina's roots draw water up into the stem. Late that night, temperatures drop well below freezing and the stems freeze, splitting open, emitting the plant juices, which immediately freeze into ribbons of ice that curl around the stem and the base of the plant!

Frostweed flowers will continue to form as long as the temperatures are cold, the plant juices are flowing and the sun cannot melt them away. The scientific term is capillary action, but, I think it's magic.

The Particulars

Family: Asteraceae

Common names: White crownbeard, Frostweed, Iceplant, Iceweed, Virginia Crownbeard, Indian Tobacco, Richweed, Squawweed

Native Range: Pennsylvania west to central Texas, south to Florida

Habitat: White Crownbeard occurs in prairies, in pastures, in forest openings, along streams, and on roadsides. It is most common in areas with neutral or basic soils.

Size: The stems are 3-8 feet in height and unbranched below the inflorescence. They have winged internodes, and are pubescent. The wings that make them easily identifiable

Bloom: Flowers are produced in heads. The heads are arranged in corymbs. Each head has 1-7 white ray flowers and 8-15 off-white disc flowers.

Bloom time: August–October.

Sun: Full sun, half sun, and, even fairly shady sites.

Water: Moist to dry

Maintenance: Weeding and editing, plants can become weedy, spreading by seed and from rhizomes.

Propagation: The fruit is a winged achene with two small bristles at its apex. Best planted from seed or if in a natural area allowed to self sow. Seed dispersal is by wind, animal or flowing water

Wildlife Value: Over wintering birds eat the seeds. Bumble Bees love it. Green Metallic bees love it. Giant Carpenter Bees love it. Butterflies love it. In fact, it's an essential late summer/early fall nectar food for all visiting pollinators and it's an especially important food for  the Monarch Butterfly.

Comments: Best in natural garden, along pond edge or if well managed in the background of a butterfly garden. This plant is called "frostweed" because it often forms spectacular "frost flowers" in the fall, when a sudden overnight freeze causes the stems to burst and release sap.

I adore this plant, but, I also weed it ruthlessly if it's crowding other more delicate plants. I can't imagine Clay and Limestone without Frostweed and the other rough and tumble beauties. Let me know if you want seeds, I'll have extras for sure.

xoxogail

Thank you for stopping by and welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. WW is about sharing and celebrating wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Remember, it doesn't matter if your wildflower is in bloom or not; and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. It's all about celebrating wildflowers. Please leave a comment when you add your url to Mr Linky.



Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wildflower Wednesday: Clay and Limestone Gardening Guidelines

Winter is here for many and it might be tempting to say that nothing is going on in the garden right now, but, we gardeners know that even a winter garden is teeming with life and activity. Birds are visiting the feeders especially on the coldest days when the ground is frozen and its hard to find a hidden insect or fallen fruit and seed. They also appreciate water, however you decide to provide it! A few years ago my birdbath cracked from the cold and I used a handy turkey roaster with rocks for easy access to the water.

There were no complaints and lots of visitors!

It's Wildflower Wednesday and I'm sharing my garden guidelines with a special emphasis on fall and winter. Although, they're universal, I've personalized them with photos of past Wildflower Wednesday stars. If you're new to C and L, my garden is a Central Basin woodland (there are some sunny areas) with dryer, heavier, shallow and neutral clay soil. I've unearthed enough limestone rocks to build several small walls and there's still more. Not too far below my plants is a thick layer of Ordovician limestone that makes for challenging gardening experiences. The native plants I've chosen are adapted to the environment and conditions at Clay and Limestone and provide food, nesting and/or shelter for mammals, reptiles, birds and insects. Humans seem to appreciate it, too.

Evergreens provide shelter for garden critters

My guidelines can be applied (with appropriate modifications) no matter where you garden for wildlife.

1. Plan and plant for a year round garden by wisely choosing the plants.

 It's taken me a very long time, but, I finally feel as if I have found the right combination and balance of perennials, annuals, biennials, small trees and shrubs that can thrive in the shallow clay soil that is too dry during the summer and too wet during the winter. Nearly every plant at Clay and Limestone has been chosen with birds, insects and other critters in mind.

Simply said: Choose plants that have good wildlife value.

Hamamelis virginiana blooms in November in my garden and small pollinators are all over the flowers

Most of our gardens have enough food for critters in our spring and summer, but, late fall and winter are critical food times in the garden. I've chosen late blooming fall plants to provide needed food for butterfly, hummingbirds and bees that are visiting the garden in the fall. Their seeds will feed song birds and small mammals through out late fall.

 If you garden along the monarch trail I recommend planting this beauty

All our native asters are excellent nectar and pollen sources for late visiting pollinators, but,  Symphyotrichum praealtum 'Miss Bessie' is the best very, very, late blooming ex-aster in my garden. It  begins blooming in mid to late October, just as the little woodland asters and Goldenrods are starting to fade, and continues blooming throughout November. It can even survive light frosts. It was still blooming when I walked the garden yesterday. It's an extremely important food source for migrating Monarch butterflies and if you're gardening on the Monarch Migration Trail, you might want to consider planting it. Bees are also frequent visitors when the temperatures reach 50˚.

Native Lonicera bloomed until Late October feeding migrating Hummingbirds

Migrating hummingbirds need to constantly replenish their fat reserves. They feed heavily on flower nectar and where there are few flowers they will feed at the sugar water from feeders as they continue on their journey. Plant lots of nectar- rich hummingbird favorites~Salvias, Pentas, Cleome, Penstemmons, Trumpet honeysuckle, Zinnias and Monarda to keep Hummers happy and visiting. I often cover these plants if a light frost is forecast.


These are the questions I ask myself when plant shopping-at nurseries or online.

• Does it make sense for my garden conditions?
• Is it a source of nectar or pollen or a host plant for pollinators? 
• Is it a food source for birds, insects or mammals?
• Will it add to plant diversity in my critter friendly garden?
• Is it native or garden friendly (a non invasive plant)? 
• Have I included plants that bloom in the early spring and some that bloom until late fall to help critters getting ready for winter?
• Have I included shrubs and evergreens? (They provide structure to the garden and cover and food.)
• What worked this past year? Should I plant more?

Aronia arbutifolia

2. Wait until spring to clean the garden

Gardening friends it's time for us to help our neighbors understand that there's no need to clean up their gardens in late fall. Birds, bees, beetles, butterfly, beneficial insects and small mammals need our "messy gardens". They overwinter under leaves, tuck themselves in the peeling bark of trees, nestle at the base of plants and even nest/overwinter in the stalks of many wildflowers. Clearing the garden kills the insects and that means our resident birds won't have as many insects to feed their young come spring. Not only do the critters miss out, but, we don't get to see how beautiful our gardens can look when/if it snows.

The stems of decaying Silphium perfoliatum provide homes for overwintering critters

When you let native wildflowers like Echinaceas, Rudbeckias and the ex-asters stand all winter the seeds are consumed by Goldfinches and other seed eating critters. The stems of many wildflowers, like cup plant are perfect nest sites for overwintering insects~especially small bees.

Native grasses left standing are beautiful, but, also provide shelter and protection for small mammals and birds. Goldenrods support a curious little Goldenrod Gall Fly that makes it's winter home on the stem of the plant. If they aren't eaten by Chickadees during the winter the fly emerges in the spring to start this process all over.

Decaying stems play a roll in the winter garden. The older foliage of a Christmas Fern collapses into the leaf litter as the year progresses toward winter. This accumulated detritus of decaying fronds helps to stabilize the soil and prevent or lessen erosion. The built up mass is also a protective habitat for ground feeding and ground nesting birds.

3. Leave some leaves! 

 I can't leave all the leaves that fall on my garden beds, but, I leave a lot. Over the years the decomposed leaf litter has improved the soil while providing a nice layer of mulch for some winter protection. I do relocate leaves to wooded areas in the garden where they decompose and provide a habitat for beetles, caterpillars, some bees to over winter.

any more than this and my plants might not survive the wet winter under the leaves

4. Create a brush pile, leave a snag or allow a fallen tree to remain in the garden

 Living trees provide food, shelter, nesting, resting places, perches for hunters and a "reproductive site" for hundreds of different kinds of insects.

Redbud snag

When a tree dies, good things continue to happen. 

Dead trees have an enormously important role in forests. Trees fall for a variety of reasons: disease, lightning, fire, animal damage, too much shade, drought, root competition, as well as old age. A big oak in my garden was struck by lightening a dozen years ago and limb by limb it's been falling down.

The snag that remains still provides shelter and nesting for a number of critters; while the limbs on the ground are a perfect shelter for small animals such as rabbits, chipmunks and squirrels and a habitat for beetles, termites and other insects.

If you haven't space for a fallen tree, you can create a brush pile for the wild critters that live in your garden. Insects, spiders, bees, reptiles, and small mammals love brush piles and birds will visit in search of insects.

5. Always provide water, it's as important in the winter as it is in the summer

Birds need water every day and if you live where there's no snow cover (yes, birds can eat snow), then, birds need your help even more. I have two heated birdbaths and I always have visitors at them. If you haven't access to an electrical outlet, you can look for a solar bird bath heater. Get frost proof bird baths. My concrete baths only crack if they are not heated. Keep the baths clean and if possible place them in a sunny spot.

The birds will thank you for it.

Blue birds flock to the bird baths when they visit the garden in late winter

I walked the garden while I was writing this post and there were still colorful leaves on the trees and blooming ex-asters, but, not for long, a cold wind is blowing in winter temperatures in the low 20s. My flowers will be gone, but, this gardener will continue to dream and plan. In the mid-south the garden and gardener rest for a shorter time than many of you experience winter. I hope this winter gardening guideline is helpful and that winter is good to you.

Happy Wildflower Wednesday.
xoxogail

Welcome to Clay and Limestone and Wildflower Wednesday.  This day is about sharing wildflowers and other native plants no matter where one gardens~the UK, tropical Florida, Europe, Australia, Africa, South America, India or the coldest reaches of Canada. It doesn't matter if your WW star of the month is blooming or not, after all it's winter for a lot of us. It doesn't matter if we sometimes share the same plants; how they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most.




Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Birds in the winter garden

The feeders are stocked with sunflower seed, thistle, suet and there's plenty of water and cover. It's a party in the back yard all winter long, but especially on cold snowy days.

I love feeding the birds and get a kick out of their antics.

Each species has a distinct personality. Some are curious, while other are quite gregarious.

Cardinals visit early in the morning and late in the afternoon.

Doves are especially fun to watch. They always seem to be the last bird to figure out what they heck is going on when all the other birds have skedaddled as the hawk flies over.

The house finches are aggressive and push others away from the feeders.

 I like knowing that the seeds, water and shelter I provide are giving the smallest birds a fighting chance to survive when winter gets particularly harsh. 

But, when nesting time arrives, seed is not what they want or need. They need insects to feed their young. According to Doug Tallamy, entomology and wildlife ecology professor at the University of Delaware, a single pair of breeding chickadees must find as many as 6000 caterpillars to rear one clutch of young.

That's just one bird family in this garden. When you consider that 96% of terrestrial birds in North America rear their young on insects, you can see how important it is that our gardens be hospitable to those insects.

 What's a gardener to do?

 Please continue to feed the birds all winter. It's a wonderful way to supplement their winter foraging and it's so much fun.

Juniperus virginiana and Cornus drummondii have good wildlife value

Right now, in the middle of winter, when you're missing the heck out of your garden, is an excellent time to assess whether your garden is as insect friendly as possible.

1. Make sure native trees play a major role in your garden.Why is that so important? Desiree Narango, a doctoral student with the University of Delaware and who is conducting a three-year study to learn how nonnative, or exotic, trees in cities and suburbs affect the availability of food birds need during the breeding season explains that “Nonnative trees may support insects, but they do not support the insects that birds want and need to feed their young." (from Why birds need native trees  National Wildlife)

2. Do your native trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals out number the non-natives? Need to add more natives? Be sure to plant pollen and nectar rich perennials, herbs and annuals to attract beneficials, bees and other insects. Avoid hybrids and cultivars that are double flowered. They are sterile and have no pollen or nectar for insects and no seeds for the birds. If possible plant “true open-pollinated native wildflowers”. (Native annuals)

3. Does a messy garden get to you? Work on tolerating leaves and decaying plants. Don't be in a rush to clean up the fall garden. Leave plant stalks and seed heads standing all winter. Leave those fallen leaves or as many as you can tolerate! Insects over winter in the fallen and decaying leaves and so do some species of insect eating bats!

4. Have you invited toads into your garden? They like a cool, wet spot. How about under the birdbath?

5. Do you have room for a pond? Be sure you have a muddy edge for damsel flies and dragonflies. They will eat mosquitoes which make gardening in the summer a nightmare. Birds will appreciate the water and the flying snacks.

6. Do you have a brush pile? Stack fallen brush, cut tree limbs, broken pots for ground beetles. Ground beetles are excellent at eating "bad bugs". They're also good bird, toad and small critter food.

7. Weirded out by spiders, aphids, strange caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets and the odd larva of beneficials! Rethink what you consider icky or a pest. Bluebirds eat crickets and grasshoppers. Spiders are important predators and a very important bird food! Snakes keep the rodent population in check.

8. Can you embrace imperfection in the garden? Learn to tolerate damaged plants because insects can ugly up their favorite plant foods.

9. Do you know which local or online nurseries sell plants that are neonicotinoid free? Frequent them, their plants may cost more but, your garden will be healthier for pollinators, insects and birds.

10. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever use pesticides....They're deadly in a wildlife friendly garden.

Downy Woodpecker

Now go enjoy those birds,  before long you'll be planting and planning for all the critters in your garden.
xoxogail

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.