Wing nut
Posted on August 1st, 2008 – 8:27 AMBy Jaime Chismar
Birds, dragonflies, bumble bees and cicadas — The garden attracts all sorts of winged wonders. Some are easy to identify. Some leave as mysteriously as they came. Others need an immediate escort off the premises.
A bit of egg shell, a broken cocoon, a bite from a strawberry — Sometimes, I find just a trace — a whisper — of the little dramas that unfold in my backyard. And sometimes, they are beautiful.
After Tuesday’s rabbit rant, I’m curious about creatures that you welcome to your garden. Do you plant for butterflies, bees or birds? Give special consideration to spiders? Rescue worms after a rainstorm?
5 Responses to "Wing nut"
I’m an animal lover who married someone with major animal allergies. I figured that if we can’t have a dog or cat (maybe someday I’ll talk him into a hypoallergenic dog), then I’m going to do everything I can to attract birds, bees and butterflies into the garden. The bees love the Russian sage, anise hyssop “golden jubilee” and various native perennials. The birds show up for my three bird baths and to perch and chatter on the fence, and oddly the butterflies seem to be more interested in my sunglasses than anything else! As much as I understand the frustration of having plants eaten, I get pretty excited when a bunny wanders in my backyard.
I *have* noticed many more wasps in my garden this year than in years past, though. The glass wasp traps have caught a couple, but not many. Anyone else having seeing a difference this year?
I love all the insects that visit. Some are a little scary–last week I saw one that looked like a huge black wasp visiting the oregano.
One of the most beautiful sights this year was a male yellow finch sitting on an orange trollius. The contrast was so intense–too fleeting to grab the camera, but I’ll have it in my mind’s eye for a long time.
I have been trying to find out the name of a Solid Cobalt Blue bird with a bright yellow beak no bigger than a finch. I saw it last Spring and now again last night..I’ve looked in all my bird books and googled it too. It’s not an Indingo Bunting. Anyone know??
I plant for the butterflies and insects. I have monarda, swamp and regular milkweed and zinnias for the monarchs, and I spotted a couple of caterpillars today. I have allysum, thyme lavendar and cosmos and other flowers mixed in with my vegetables to help with the pollinations. I let the lettuce go to seed and bugs love it. Today I had two moths that flutter like small hummingbirds in my monarda. Way cool.
This year has been a good year for my garden, my cukes and squash have not been eaten down by the beetle, even though I have not used any means of getting rid of them.
I love to sit in my flower garden and watch the bug activity and count the different types of insects. I mostly have small bees and darning needles.
Cindy, maybe the floods in Iowa forced a Blue Grossbeak up here for some drier habitat. I see them at my moms house on the Minnesota/Iowa border sometimes and the weed seed production is probably way down in central Iowa where they usually are in summer.
I have a butterfly water bath (only an inch deep or less) so I can check them out close up. It usually attracts bumblebees, wasps (they get thirsty too), dragonflies, and damselflies. Surrounded by flowers that bloom in succession most of the summer I can usually get a sproratic show all summer.
The pond water run also is a source of summer fun for alot of birds as it goes from one shallow little pool to two others before falling into the briny deep. We almost died laughing the other day when one brave sparrow was bopping across the plastic mesh and a koi splashed him.
Greengirls Connie Nelson, Robyn Dochterman and Jaime Chismar are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond. Whether you're a greenthumb or greenhorn, they're eager to learn from your misshaps, mistakes -- and most importantly, your sweet successes -- all growing season long.
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