This month’s container gardening blog carnival is about a topic that is near and dear to my heart: wildlife-supporting gardens. I first became interested in gardening after my 10 year old self read a book about planting wildlife-friendly plants in suburban backyards. Attracting bees, hummingbirds, and the like is always a goal in my gardens. You certainly don’t have to be an elementary school kid to be delighted to find a lizard taking a nap in your fiber optic grass! The contributions to the carnival that I’ve linked to below are equally delightful, and will inspire you to keep the local critters in mind as you fill your balcony with plants, bird baths, and feeders this year.
Be Kind to Honeybees When you Have to Spray Pesticides
Gen shares some great tips on reducing the impact of pesticides on honeybees. She shares which types of pesticides you should never use, which ones are only safe if you spray them at dawn or dusk (when bees are less active), and which ones won’t impact honeybees. You’ll definitely want to bookmark her post for future reference.
Growing Bird Houses, Bee Life Rafts, and Hummingbird Baths, Oh My!
Robin has been quite prolific when writing about the topic of wildlife gardening. She has shared practical advice for providing bee-safe watering holes in your garden. Robin has also written about growing your own birdhouse gourds. I never realized that the plants that produce those gourds have such pretty flowers until I saw her photos! Finally, is there anything cuter than a hummingbird taking a bath? Robin shares how she created a bird bath that hummers like.
If You Build It, They Will Come
Claire shares how she created a container garden that hummingbirds visit daily. She provides a list of plants she has noticed hummingbirds like, and points out that you don’t have to use red or scented flowers to attract them.
Creating a Wildlife Sanctuary on a Balcony
Kathy writes about all sorts of tried and true ways to support wildlife. She shares plants that bees and butterflies love, and provides ideas for shelter and water that are easy to incorporate in a balcony garden.
To Attract Birds or Spiders, That is the Question…
You might think that the above photo is of a bird house. You’d be wrong, though. It’s home to more spiders than birds. Prue shares insights into how you can inadvertantly attract something you’re not expecting when you ignore what you’ve read about creating a wildlife garden. But she also shares some interesting ideas for making small bird baths, so definitely check out her post!
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Fern, this was such a fun carnival! Thanks for picking such a great topic. I’m having a wonderful time reading the other entries!
Thanks for sharing this piece and including gardenhelp.org in the carnival!
Recently, I moved my containerized, blooming pineapple sage from the greenhouse to the top of a fence post designed to hold containers. My resident hummingbird was on it within a matter of hours. That evening, he buzzed back and forth from me, to the sage, to the water feature spigot. He isn’t terribly thrilled when he finds the spigot crawling with honeybees, but they all manage to co-exist happily.
Thanks for getting the word out! (Oh, and no sightings of baby chickadees from the gourd house yet, but momma a poppa are still hopping about.)
Great carnival this time Fern! Love all the awesome ideas and maybe I’ll have to chuck the lazy, inept ways and start actually using some of these. Then again I attract bees because I am too lazy to pull out the flowering basils and put in the autumn crops. Ahhh inteptitude
Not that the other Carnivals weren’t great either, they were awesome too. (reread my last comment – inteptitude/poor word choice strikes again!)
Such great tips. I have found that the less I spray (even organic pesticides) the greater diversity of bugs/bees/other wildlife I have in the garden.
Since I keep bees, I’m glad to see you posting info about when/what kind of spray to use to protect bees. We had one of our hives almost killed because someone in the area sprayed something too strong or at the wrong time. Very sad to see thousands of bees dying in front of the hive.
Great postings on how to attract birds, butterflies to our garden.
Lately, I have activated my hidden music device underneath the soil at my backyard, and it seemed to attract birds in the evening.
It’s still experimental, and hopefully natural music rhythm can attract singing birds to my mini garden.
Jay Chua
Publisher, PorchSwingSets.com
This is a wonderful post Fern. I don’t spray and I’ve always had lots of wildlife in my garden. But, I have never thought about creating a place for bees to drink.
Yes, to Melanie, I so enjoy watching the bees line up to drink. So tiny & so thirsty! Still trying to get a good pic before they fly off..
I have a question. I’ve been fortunate to have a milkweed that monarchs just seem to love. Unfortunately, as soon as I get sizable caterpillars, they seem to become a buffet for other things. How can I protect my caterpillars from getting eaten?
Kari–That seems like a normal part of the natural world to me. Not sure there is anything you can do to prevent the caterpillars from getting eaten?
Hello
how do I attract song birds to my balcony without attracting hoards of pigeons? I live up on the 10th floor in SE London, England.
Sincerely,
Fallon
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