How to Provide Water for Hummingbirds and Butterflies

We all love to see hummingbirds and butterflies in our gardens. For most of us, they arrive for a few weeks during spring or summer and then are on their way to where their migration takes them. We can attract those flying masterpieces to our gardens and maybe entice them to stay around a bit later or arrive a little earlier. If you have a pond, you already know that hummingbirds and butterflies are attracted to water features. If you do not have a pond, there are still ways to add moving water to your yard to attract those hummers and butterflies. Migrating hummers need to hear water moving and that may well make them detour and delight you during their stay.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Put a birdbath with a mister close to a small tree or shrub. Hummingbirds are too small to bathe like larger birds, but they love to zip through a spray or surf on wet leaves to remove sticky nectar from their feathers and beaks.

2. Set up a puddling site. Pour water onto sand or dirt to create mud. Butterflies love to fly on down and have a drink. They need minerals and a puddling site is a great place to get them.

3. Find a small saucer, maybe one that was under a potted plant. Put some round river rocks in it and fill it with water. The river rocks provide a great place to stand while having a drink.

Tips & Warnings

• Make your garden full of color. Plant bleeding hearts, salvias, bee balm, columbines, penstemons, cardinal flower, snapdragons, petunias and impatiens. Vary your plant palette for different kinds of butterflies and hummingbirds. You will soon learn who likes what.
• Place shepherd's hooks and arbors in your garden. The hummers love to rest on them.
• Put out a chunk of fruit on top of your feeder. The fruit attracts butterflies. As it ages, it draws fruit flies that draw hungry hummers. Use small pieces of watermelon, banana, pear, cantaloupe and peach for monarchs.
• Use saucer-style feeders. Keep the feeders clean. Moldy feeders can cause disease quickly.
• Do not use pesticides or insecticides in your yard. They are not just fatal to the bugs you dislike, but kill hummingbirds and butterflies as well. If you want to attract hummers and butterflies, use natural pesticides such as a spray of water or insecticidal soaps. Hummingbirds also feed on a variety of tiny insects that are not visible to human eyes, so serve a valuable purpose in insect defense.