HOW TO ATTRACT BIRDS, BEES AND OTHER INSECTS.
Many customers include "attracting wildlife" on their garden "wish list". This is really easy to do, and I am proud that my own garden attracts loads of wildlife.
Birds prefer to be able to land on something tallish initially, to check out the area, then gradually move lower down. So, a small tree works really well as their landing post. We have a sparrow whose routine is to land on a Acer just 6 feet from our window, clean his beak, then fly down to get water at the waterfall.
Water is a big attraction, so if you are not able to have a pond, then do have a bird bath. If you do have a pond, a few vertical plants such as Iris encourage Dragonflies who prefer to land above the water to lay their larvae. Although we enjoyed one a couple of years ago laying its larvae in amongst some moss on a rock on the pond edge. I used a macro lens to film it so, it's really up close and personal! (See film link below)
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Butterfly on Verbena Bonariensis
Photo by Anne Massey |
A variety of flowering plants are of course also key for attracting different types of insects with different food needs. These are the ones which are doing a job of providing nectar this month.
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Bee on Geranium Rozanne. A great plant for ground cover and flowers for many weeks.
Photo by John Massey |
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Bee approaching Geranium Rozanne
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Gypsophila Rosenschleier
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Gypsophila Rosenschleier
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Teucrium Lucidrys
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Verbena Bonariensis
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Tiny Fly on Fennel
Photo by Anne Massey |
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Butterfly on Verbena Bonariensis (1)
Photo by Anne Massey |
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Bee Approaching Penstemon (1)
Photo by Anne Massey |
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Bee Approaching Penstemon (2)
Photo by Anne Massey |
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Bee Approaching Penstemon (3) here you can see the pollen on its back legs already collected.
Photo by Anne Massey |
If you would like to see some of the wildlife in our garden in ACTION, here is the link to a one minute film I made a couple of years ago, call "Them and US", which was runner up in a TV competition. Poem written by me too, with me also doing the commentary.
https://youtu.be/UJYIxdVzZmw
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