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Creating a Bird & Butterfly Haven Garden

Many of us look at gardens as a way to create something, enjoy the outdoors, and restore our spirit. As a landscape designer and contractor I am often asked, "How do I draw more birds and butterflies to my gardens"? I have always looked at attracting them from the point of view of what plants they eat.  However, I think I have been missing several vital parts of the puzzle. What if we looked at everything they need and not just the pretty flower filled with nectar. Just like humans, birds and butterflies need food, shelter, and water. No, they don't need clothes!  I will discuss these needs for both birds and butterflies and then give suggestions for what to plant and do to our yards and gardens to create a healthy ecosystem for our feathered and winged friends.

It is difficult to learn all of these things at once, so let's break them down into different needs and explore these individually, although many of the needs are interconnected. 

First let's look at food. What do birds eat? Well a lot of things: nectar, worms, insects, berries, and other fruits. When trying to create an ecosystem that is hospitable to birds we should create places that are hospitable to worms and invertebrates, as well as adding plants that provide nectar and berries. Now, how about butterflies, what do they eat? It is a little more simple, generally nectar from flowers. 

How about shelter? What do birds need for shelter? This varies widely between species. Often a nest in a tree works, but some like shrubs, and yet others nest on the ground. Some birds like the protection of evergreens, and some like our small native trees and shrubs with thinner branches that keep ground predators away. Many birds need standing dead trees, which we often clear from urban areas. Consider leaving the trunk of a tree on your lot next time a tree dies. 

 How about butterflies? They need structure as well to keep them out of potentially fatal rains and a place to roost at night. They also need places to safely lay eggs and a place for their larvae to feed and eventually pupate and complete the life cycle. Finally both birds and butterflies need a clean and safe water source. 

Looking at all these needs makes this task seem very complex, especially when you consider all of the species.  However, when you boil it down you just have to supply the essential needs of the species you would like to attract.  Following is a list of many plants that are good for butterflies and birds as well as some cultural practices that can help create a healthy ecosystem for them. Again we need to create an ecosystem, even if it is on a small scale, providing all the necessities for their existence. I always start any landscape design with trees or at least one tree. Trees are vital for most songbirds of the upper Midwest, as well as being good shelter for butterflies. Then I look at small understory trees and shrubs. They provide the layer that is often completely missing in our urban environments, because we have been trained to like park-like landscapes. Or, in the Twin Cities this layer has been replaced by invasive buckthorn, which has very little, if any habitat value for our native feathered friends.  Finally, I try to integrate native grasses, sedges and flowers. For most gardeners this is the part we focus on already, but we can do better, by sticking to native plants. 

When selecting plant species, locally native species are the best for creating habitat for out native fauna. It seems obvious that our native fauna has evolved with our native flora, but we have overlooked this and opted for pretty exotic cultivars instead. The green industry has pushed for bigger, brighter, and showier in our cultivated plants and this has resulted in a large scale replacement of native plants, especially in urban and suburban environments. The result is habitat loss for our beloved native fauna because many of these non-native cultivated plants do not provide them quality habitat. 

Here is a list of suggested species that have significant habitat value for our native birds and butterflies. Some species of birds and butterflies need specific plants, called host plants. Many of the plants below are host plants for specific species, while others will attract a wide range of insects to feed our bird populations or supply nectar to many species. When selecting plants for your bird and butterfly garden, the more native diversity of plants you use the more animal diversity you will be privileged to experience.

Trees & Shrubs:

Bur Oak - Quercus macrocarpa

White Oak - Quercus alba

Red Oak - Quercus rubra

Northern Pin Oak - Quercus ellipsoidalis

Swamp White Oak - Quercus bicolor

Bebb's Willow - Salix rostrata

Pussy Willow - Salix discolor

Prairie Willow - Salix humilis

Black Willow - Salix nigra

Black Cherry - Prunus serotina

Pin Cherry - Prunus pensylvanica

America Wild Plum - Prunus Americana

Choke-cherry - Prunus virginiana

River Birch - Betula nigra

Paper Birch - Betula papyrifera

Yellow Birch - Betula alleghaniensis

Bigtooth Aspen - Populus grandidentata

Quaking Aspen - Populus tremuloides

Prairie Crabapple - Malus loensis

Sugar Maple - Acer saccharum

Red Maple - Acer rubrum

American Elm - Ulmus Americana (Dutch Elm Disease Resistant Selections)

Hackberry - Celtis occidentalis

Downy Serviceberry - Amelanchier arborea

Saskatoon Serviceberry - Amelanchier alnifolia

Black Chokeberry - Aronia melanocarpa

Pagoda Dogwood - Cornus alternifolia

Red-osier Dogwood - Cornus servicea

American Hazel - Corylus Americana

Downy Hawthorn - Crataegus mollis

Showy Mountain Ash - Sorbus decora

Bush Honeysuckle - Diervilla lonicera 

Ninebark - Physocarpus opulifolius

Grasses & Sedges:

Little Bluestem - Schizachyrium scoparium

Big Bluestem - Andropogon gerardii

Indian Grass - Sorgastrum nutans

Side Oats Grama - Bouteloua curtipendula

Bebb's Sedge - Carex bebbii

Fox Sedge - Carex vulpinoidea

Porcupine Sedge - Carex hystricina

Bottlebrush Sedge - Carex comosa

Flowers / Forbs:

Anise Hyssop - Agastache foeniculum

Giant Hyssop - Agastache scrophulariaefolia

Pearly Everlasting - Anaphilis margaritacea

Wild Columbine - Aquilegia Canadensis

Swamp Milkweed - Asclepias incarnate

Butterfly Weed - Asclepias tuberosa

Whorled Milkweed - Asclepias verticillata

Smooth Aster - Aster laevis

New England Aster - Aster novae-angliae

Lance Leaf Coreopsis - Coreopsis lanceolata

Prairie Coreopsis - Coreopsis palmate

White Prairie Clover - Dalea candida

Purple Prairie Clover - Dalea purpurea

Pale Purple Coneflower - Echinacea pallida

Fireweed - Epilobium angustifolium

Purple Joe Pye Weed - Eupatorium purpureum

Sneezeweed - Helenium autumnale

Sawtooth Sunflower - Helianthus grosseserratus

Maxmillian Sunflower - Helianthus maxmillianii

Rough Blazing Star -  Liatris aspera

Northern Plains Blazing Star - Liatris ligulistylis

Thick Spike Blazing Star - Liatris pychnostachya

Marsh Blazing Star - Liatris spicata

Scaly Blazing Star - Liatris squarossa

Cardinal Flower - Lobelia cardinalis

Great Blue Lobelia - Lobelia siphilitica

Wild Blue Lupine - Lupinus perennis

Bergamot - Monarda fistulosa

Smooth Penstemon - Penstemon digitalis

Yellow Coneflower - Ratibida pinnata

Orange Coneflower - Rudbeckia fulgida

Compass Plant - Silphium laciniatum

Cup Plant - Silphium perfoliatum

Ohio Goldenrod - Solidago ohiensis

Showy Goldenrod - Solidago speciosa

Blue Vervain - Verbena hastate

Hoary Vervain - Verbena stricta

Ironweed - Vernonia fasciculate

Culver's Root - Veronicastrum virginianum