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Thank you, Bill! This is excellent! I'm planning on doing my backyard this year, and DH and myself are wanting an area for the birds and squirrels. This just gave me lots to look at! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
bbbbbbbbb I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.
From: Central FL | Registered: Mar 2005
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Wow! That just answered all my questions Bill, thanks!
My husband and I are going to try our hand at a butterfly garden this summer in honor of his late grandmother. She loved butterflies. I wondered if there was anything we could do to make our little patch more appealing to our guests. Now that I know about puddling I'm going to have to get some sand and container of some sort to keep it in! I'm thinking a birdbath filled with damp sand would work. I am also very happy to hear that herbs are very attractive to butterflies as well since I am planting my fist herb garden this season too!
Well thanks again, I find that all my questions are answered here before I even get a chance to ask them!! That's awesome!
From: Nebraska | Registered: Mar 2005
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Another good butterfly shrub not on Bill's list is Aesculus parviflora or Bottlebrush Buckeye. I've counted as many as 4 dozen butterflies on mine at one time.
bbbbbbbbb Terry
May the force be with you
From: Copper Hill, Virginia | Registered: Apr 2004
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Hi Bill!!! Love your photos....triing to find out how I can upload mine onto here soon. I have used natural wildflowers for my butterfly garden by transplanting the ones that they frequently feed around. Over here in PA we have a couple of Clearwing families.Being the avid bug collector that I am, I snapped a few clear pics of them. They realy love the blue sage that grows all over the place. Butterfly bushes work great also.
bbbbbbbbb Dan the man
From: Fairfield,PA | Registered: May 2005
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Greetings, all! I'm pleased to be attracting butterflies with my flowers. Does that necessarily mean that I'll atrract birds, too? My cats like the idea, but it seems unfair to lure the poor birdies to their doom!
posted
Depends on what you want to attract. I plant large beds of sunflowers and get American Goldfinches. Salvia is good for attracting Humminbirds, as are many flowers. There should be threads on here about the flowers that birds like. I am more of a birdwatcher than a gardner but these are the plants that I use.
bbbbbbbbb A bird in the hand......can sometimes be a mess.
From: Nashville, TN | Registered: May 2005
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How can i post a picture of a plant for identification??? Ive searched the internet and cannot find out what this is. It was very popular with butterflies and hummingbirds. The foliage looks sort of like carnation type leaves and buds..yet the flowers almost look like morning glories or periwinkle..flowers are purple. I have pictures but didnt know how to post them. I can email if needed. HELP!!!
From: WV | Registered: Sep 2005
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You need to see what other's have written here about posting pics, Weezie knows ........I used to be able to post my pics from Webshots but they no longer let you do that , so I keep them there and people have to go there to see them.
Is it some kind of vinca? or does the flower only open up during sunny days and close each night,"blue-eyed grass" I've got tons of that, which is beautiful, or maybe some dianthus, which is in the carnation family which the butterflies go crazy for and I also get the hummingbird moth , a really cool little creature.
quote: How can i post a picture of a plant for identification???
Shan...do you have a photo storage place like Webshots or PhotoBucket? You can post a picture directly here so it shows up using PhotoBucket, but have to post a link to it using webshots. I use PhotoBucket for my pictures...it's very easy to use.
If you'd like me to post it for you you can email it to me and I'll put it on here in the mystery plants forum...and someone will ID it pronto!
afgreyparrot@thegardenhelper.com
Welcome to the forum!
Cindy
bbbbbbbbb Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
Registered: Mar 2004
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I have a question about feeding birds. I did read this segment: The Joy of Feeding Birds. Creating a Bird Friendly Garden, but still am wondering something.
I have heard people say that once you start having bird feeders you need to keep them filled year round cause the birds will come to depend on this food source.
I've also heard that once the ground has thawed and the natural vegetation starts to grow that you should discontinue with feeders until the natural vegetation "hibernates" for the winter, cause if you feed them year round they will forget how to forage the natural vegetation.
Which is true?
bbbbbbbbb "As long as there are tests, there will be prayer in public schools" - Maxine
From: Maine | Registered: Oct 2005
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That is NOT true. I keep my feeders filled pretty much all the time but have almost no activity in Summer. The busiest periods for feeders is mid-Winter through late Spring. Birds come to feeders when food is hard to find. When natural food is plentiful their visits to feeders drop dramatically.
bbbbbbbbb A bird in the hand......can sometimes be a mess.
From: Nashville, TN | Registered: May 2005
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Thanks Bill! There's some wonderful information I can use! I'm putting in some new plants this year and I would like to get some flowers that would attract more hummers and butterflies.
patches
bbbbbbbbb "Lord, I love you and I need you, come into my heart, and bless me, my family, my home, and my friends, in Jesus' name. Amen!"
From: Illinois | Registered: Feb 2006
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When is the best time to transplant butterfly bushes. I have 2 i want to move-they are in front of windows and are too big to leave there.
From: Illinois | Registered: Mar 2006
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I feed birds all year long. I purchase my seed from Wildbirds Unlimited because it is blended especially for birds that habitat my area. It costs a little more than seed from the local farm store, but there is no waste.
From: Frankfort, KY | Registered: Oct 2003
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I need to know if there is any vine I can grow up a tree to attract hummers - I have a great area in the sun but the only thing to climb on is a tree and I've heard not to grow vines on trees, is this true? Thanks in advance
bbbbbbbbb Is this heaven?
From: Niceville, FL | Registered: Jan 2006
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I dont know if its on the list but for bird feeders only use black sun flower seeds or a mixture of grain. Dont use Nuts unless you want squirrels to devour your bird feeder.
Also ivy is good for butterflys because cattapillas like to (what ever its called) on the under side of the follage as it provides excellent protection from predators.
Although ensure you keep it undercontrol as it will take over your garden.
posted
Always transplant in spring or fall. Unless you are in a really cold climate, the window has passed already. You can, however, hack them back a bit, them move them in the fall.
From: Texas | Registered: Apr 2006
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Other hummer vines are anything they can get their little beaks into...Cardinal Climber, Morningglories, Trumpet Vine, Cross Vine, Clock vine, etc. etc. All take full sun and bloom all summer, whereas jasmine only blooms in the spring (although it smells heavenly). Although they tell you hummingbirds especially like red flowers, mine always go for the blue Indigo Spires salvia. Maybe my hummers are colorblind.
From: Texas | Registered: Apr 2006
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Hummers are especially attracted to red but will eat out of every color nectar flower. Bees and wasps see red as black and are attracted to them least, or last, so the hummers know they're the safest color to go to first. Yes bees can hurt hummers. Be sure to check that the plants and vines arent invasive or you could go nuts trying to pull things out later on.
bbbbbbbbb
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From: Phoenicia, NY | Registered: Apr 2006
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Trumpet Vine is very good for hummers. The VERY BEST plant I've found for Hummingbirds, especially in late Summer/early Fall, IF you live near a marshy area or small stream is Jewelweed. It forms a bush with small, yellow or orange, trumpet shape blossoms. Its seed pods look like little String Bean pods. These plants grow right in the marshy areas of bogs or on tiny islands in the middle of small streams. These islands are typically a gravel/silt composition and often are packed with Jewelweed bushes. The bushes, in turn, are packed with Hummingbirds in August and September. Here are pictures.
JEWELWEED BUSH IN FULL BLOOM (Impatiens capensis)
JEWELWEED SEED PODS
bbbbbbbbb A bird in the hand......can sometimes be a mess.
From: Nashville, TN | Registered: May 2005
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Most butterfly bushes are meant to be cut back to about three inches in late winter or early spring. I would cut them back and leave them where they are.
From: Frankfort, KY | Registered: Oct 2003
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Thornius, thank you especially for including pics. They are very informative. Will this jewelweed propagate profusely with those seed pods or am I pretty safe putting it in my yard? By the way I have been trying to get a picture of this guy for a week and when I just read on one of these forums that you are a woodpecker guy, I wanted to send it to you. There is a male and female in the box, don't know about babies yet. (I can't find the forum again, oh well.) Thanks again!
posted
Momma D, That is a male Northern Flicker, more of a Ground Pecker than a Woodpecker. They are often found on the ground where they hunt for worms and ants. You can tell that is a male because of the black "Moustache". The females lack the moustache. As for Jewelweed I'm not sure if it will grow in a yard. I've ONLY seen in VERY damp marshy areas. It grows quite well there.
bbbbbbbbb A bird in the hand......can sometimes be a mess.
From: Nashville, TN | Registered: May 2005
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i have jewelweed growing in my yard. It grows next to my garage, in my raised garden in back. The hummers and deer love it. If it p;ops up where you dont want it it's very easy to pull out. I saved some seeds if you want some. lmk.
bbbbbbbbb
Summer Camp '07, July 14th weekend, won't you join us? summer camp thread 1, 2, 3,4
From: Phoenicia, NY | Registered: Apr 2006
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Wrennie, that would be really nice if you would send me some seeds. I haven't done anything like that on here yet so please let me know how to do it. Momma D
bbbbbbbbb Is this heaven?
From: Niceville, FL | Registered: Jan 2006
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ive got one of those northern flickers hanging around my backyard. i went nuts when i first saw it trying to figure out what it was, finally found it on the internet.
From: st louis mo | Registered: Mar 2006
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MommaD I'm pretty new here so, I'll go the way of another forum I go on. Send me a pm (private message) with your address and I'll mail you some. It grows in relatively cool partly shaded spots here. It may not do well in your summer but spring and fall it should do well.
bbbbbbbbb
Summer Camp '07, July 14th weekend, won't you join us? summer camp thread 1, 2, 3,4
From: Phoenicia, NY | Registered: Apr 2006
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Here is a picture I took a couple of hours ago of Trumpet Vine (also known as Trumpet Creeper) in full bloom.
TRUMPET VINE
No Hummers were present although I did see a flock of Cedar Waxwings, a Female Eastern Bluebird on the nest, and some sparrows, either Field Sparrows or Chipping Sparrows. I think the former.
bbbbbbbbb A bird in the hand......can sometimes be a mess.
From: Nashville, TN | Registered: May 2005
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bbbbbbbbb Lynne's knitting journal "I'm spayed, declawed, and housebound - how's YOUR day going???"
From: Rockland County, NY | Registered: Nov 2003
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Thornius, I have one of these in a pot because I know they can be invasive. It really doesn't want to be in the pot, I can tell (haha). Do you have a lot of problems with them popping up all over? They are beautiful and definitely my choice, but I see too much negative about them. Thanks for your help. PS, the baby blue birds have fledged. Yeah!! Lin
Celebrating 10 years of helping your gardens grow!
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There's some wonderful information I can use! I'm putting in some new plants this year and I would like to get some flowers that would attract more hummers and butterflies. ![[flower]](graemlins/flower.gif)
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Summer Camp '07, July 14th weekend, won't you join us? 
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about them. Thanks for your help. PS, the baby blue birds have fledged. Yeah!! Lin ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)