Perennial Gardens That Attract Birds & Butterflies

Butterflies are attracted to brightly colored flowers

Perennial gardens contain plants and flowers that live longer than a year. Plant perennials once and leave them to flower and grow year after year. Many perennials will attract birds and butterflies both during the on and off seasons.

Colors

A major factor in attracting birds and butterflies is flower color. Hummingbirds, for example, are attracted to bright reds and pinks. Other colors you choose should be equally bright to attract different varieties of birds and insects. Attracting insects also attracts your favorite birds as well.

Seeds

A great perk of having a perennial bird and butterfly garden is that you can continue to attract birds after the flowers are gone by allowing plants to go to seed. Birds will use your yard as sustenance for when migrating. Great choices that will provide plenty of seeds for your birds are sunflowers, bee balm and goldenrod. Leave these flowers in your yard to go to seed rather than chopping them down when they are finished growing for the year.

Types of Plants

There variety of plants that you can choose from to attract birds and butterflies, but almost include flowers as birds and butterflies are pollinators. Some common perennial flower choices are azaleas, camelias and hollyhocks, which all have bright pink or red flowers. Other popular choices with different colors are sunflowers, purple coneflowers and zinnias.

Types of Birds

The birds you attract with a perennial garden vary depending on the time of year as well as your geographic location. You may see cardinals, flickers, phoebes or bluebirds. The most exciting bird for many gardeners are the hummingbirds. There are different species in different parts of the country, and many have quite bright and iridescent coloration.

Types of Butterflies

People enjoying seeing monarchs, which are a lovely contrast of bright orange and black colors. The immature caterpillar is also quite lovely, since it is large and green and black striped. They are attracted to plants such as milkweed and yarrow. Other types of butterflies that will show up in your perennial garden are buckeyes, swallowtails, zebras and cloudless sulfurs.

References

• Birds N Garden: Gardening to Attract Wild Birds, Butterflies & Hummingbirds
• Nature Canada: How to Plant a Monarch-Friendly Garden
• The Garden Helper: Plants Flowers and Trees that Attract, Feed and Shelter Birds in your Garden