Everyone knows flower gardens are beautiful, but did you know that the type of flowers you plant will affect what kinds of insects and birds you see in your yard? If you want to see lots of beautiful butterflies fluttering about your garden, plant red, purple, orange, pink and yellow flowers with flat tops. These can include snapdragons, lilacs, pansies, goldenrods and day lilies.
Honeysuckle, sage, hibiscus, petunias, desert willow and fuchsia are perfect for attracting hummingbirds. Like most birds, hummingbirds have no sense of smell so the colors of the flowers will attract them.
The bees will help pollinate your flowers and plants, so they’ll produce seeds and you won’t have to spend money on new plants year after year. You might want bees in your garden because they are excellent pollinators, or you may not want them because of their painful sting. Either way, you should know what flowers bees love so you can either plant or avoid them. Bees are attracted to warm-colored blooms, especially ones like fennel, oregano, sunflowers, lion’s tail, salvia, lavender and yarrow.
Birds love flowers with delicious, nutritious seeds like daisies, zinnias, sunflowers and poppies. Remember, birds feed by sight, not by smell.
Ladybugs love bachelor buttons (get it – the ladies love the bachelors?), sweet alyssum, and mountain mints for their high sugar content.
Caterpillars are great because they grow up into butterflies, but they can be annoyances because they eat the leaves of your plants. Nevertheless, if you’re willing to put up with tiny creatures munching on your leaves in order to one day enjoy gorgeous butterflies, try planting buckwheat, dragon sagebrush, parsley, fennel and wild back cherries.
Flower gardens are a wonderful addition to any home, but make sure you’re informed about you’ll be attracting when you plant yours.
