As the United States becomes increasingly urbanized, the landscaping around our homes is the final frontier for many species. All of us are now on the forefront of managing the nation’s birds, butterflies, and other wildlife. We need to choose plants that can provide food and good nutrition for the entire food web. We need to garden for wildlife.
I find that there are six perennials that are must haves for a wildlife garden: Common Monarch Flower, Giant Purple Hyssop, Tickseed, Black-eyed Susan, Beebalm, and Purple Coneflower. The flowers produce nectar for butterflies and other pollinators and the leaves are essential food for caterpillars. You will also be attracting birds to your yard as 96% of the terrestrial bird species in North America rely on bugs and caterpillars to feed their young. The flowers of the hyssops, bee balm and monarch flowers occasionally attract Hummingbirds too. As an added bonus, deer do not find these six perennials to be tasty!
Blossom Meadow Common Monarch Flower seeds are currently available for sale. As part of my full line of wildlife gardening products, seeds of ALL these perennial plants will be offered for sale in Spring 2013 🙂
Note of scientific names: Common Monarch Flower (Asclepias syriaca), Giant Purple Hyssop (Agastache scrophulariifolia), Tickseed (Coreopsis lanceolata), Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), Beebalm (Monarda didyma), and Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).