Landscaping & Gardening Tips

One of the tricks for bringing butterflies and hummingbirds into your garden is to concentrate on plants that are nectar bearing. These are plants that are carrying sugar that the birds and the butterflies both need. Here’s an example of that.

Notice that my hummingbird feeder is not red except for the feeder platform itself. That’s all that’s necessary for hummingbirds to be attracted. There’s a fair amount of evidence now that says that number one, red dye in your feed formula is not necessary at all, and they’re beginning to think that it might cause beak cancer. So, as long as there’s a part of the feeder that’s red, or a red blooming plant near it, that’s all that’s necessary to bring your hummingbirds in and keep them here.

Roses are not nectar bearing, but will draw different butterflies and hummingbirds to the garden. If, on the other hand, there are plants near it that actually do feed, this is how you’ll keep hummingbirds and butterflies in your garden all of the time.

Asclepias which is also called the “tropical milkweed.” And it’s definitely a butterfly drawer. This blooms almost all year long, and though it’s a little bit on the wild side, it’s definitely worth putting up with seed heads and the different things that it does because the fact that it’s a big butterfly drawer. And here comes one now.