I live on a mixed land of clay dirt and rocks and dirt, so my question is what is the best to plant in these areas? And I know about the feeders. I need to know what to plant. And when. Thanx so much for any and all input.
2007-03-21 16:58:13 · 6 answers · asked by karens lovinlife 6 in Home & Garden ➔ Other - Home & Garden
Depends what zone & climate you are in.
For humming birds:
If you are anywhere warm & dry then go for penstemons - P. barbatus or P.eatonii are great or P.bridgesii . The red Ipomopsis (gilias) are also really good & tend to bloom a little later than the penstemon for a longer season. Try Monarda (in almost any climate) there are several red ones that work really well. Hesperaloe parviflora also causes a few hummingbird fights in my gardens.
For butterflies, butterfly bush is great of course, then also try milkweeds - some butterflies need them to lay their eggs on. Also they seem to love zinnias for some reason, or for that matter many different flatter flowers where they can land to drink nectar.
You should also try to attract bees for the full pollinator garden - they really will not bother you & we need more of them desperately as they are dying out. For those go for foxgloves and snapdragons, penstemons are great too - the purple ones particularly. Also Poppies are awesome as only bees pollinate them - they have no nextar but if you have the oriental poppies the bees mass in them collecting the pollen in the mornings - it is incredible & beautiful to watch. If you are somewhere dry enough one of my all time favorites is Mentzelia decapetala - but it needs to be pretty dry for that.
I hope this helped a little.
2007-03-21 17:18:39 · answer #1 · answered by SonoranDesertGirl 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
anything that blooms yellow and red. They sell some seeds at wal-mart that is a mix of wildflowers that will attract them. Also sweet ciciley is a great fern looking plant that attracts them.
Here is a list I found:
Beard Tongue (Penstemon); Bee Balm (Monarda); Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae); Browallia; Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa); California Fuchsia (Zauschneria); Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis); Columbia Lily (Lilium columbianum); Columbine (Aquilegia); Coral Bells (Heuchera); Delphinium; Foxglove (Digitalis); Geranium (Pelargonium); Gladiolus; Hollyhock (Alcea rosea); Hosta; Impatiens; Iris; Lilac; Lion’s Tail (Leonotis leonurus); Lobelia laxiflora; Lupine (Lupinus); Ohio Buckeye; Phlox; Red-hot-poker (Kniphofia uvaria); Salvia (Sage); Spider Flower (Cleome hasslerana); Trumpet Honeysuckle; Zinnia.
2007-03-21 17:09:00 · answer #2 · answered by sweet_purpleiris 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i'd stop by a local nursery and ask them what the best plants are for your soil type and zone. i'm in zone 2 (i THINK it's 2, i might have gotten them backwards), and not much grows up here. but butterfly bushes, lilacs, lillies, salvia, etc all attract butterflies. i've also had hummingbirds, but can't remember the plants they were humming around - my yard's covered in snow!
2007-03-21 17:06:04 · answer #3 · answered by drey 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We have some butterfly bushes. They have purple blooms and are fragrant. They really attract the butterflies. Every year the bush gets thicker. You plant them in early summer.
2007-03-21 17:06:52 · answer #4 · answered by beverlystittums 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They like honeysuckle, we have some out back and we get to watch them in the summer sticking their beak in sucking out the nectar.
2007-03-21 17:07:07 · answer #5 · answered by Fordman 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dress like a flower.
2007-03-21 17:00:42 · answer #6 · answered by james B 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋