Monday, May 30, 2016

Beautiful Flowers to Attract Bees, Butterflies and Hummingbirds by Denise Devine



My Flower Garden
As you probably know, bee and butterfly populations are in serious decline. This is not good news! Did you know that in 1997 there were more than 1 billion Monarch butterflies, but now there are only about 57 million? The rapid decline is due to pesticides, loss of habitat, and milkweed, which is the main diet of caterpillars.

Bees are dying in record numbers—putting our food supply seriously at risk—and it’s mostly due to toxic pesticides called “neonicotinoids.” These nasty chemicals are used in nursery plants and they’re systemic, which means that the poison goes up through the plant into the pollen and nectar and kills the bees. PLEASE, only buy plants that aren’t chemically treated!

Make your yard an area where bees and butterflies can survive. Plant wildflowers native to your state, plant milkweed and don’t use chemicals!

Echinacea (Coneflowers)
Some bee-friendly flowers…
Spring Blooms - Crocus, hyacinth, borage, calendula and wild lilac
Summer - bee balm, cosmos, echinacea, snapdragons foxglove, and hosta
Fall - zinnias, sedum, asters, witch hazel and goldenrod

Some butterfly-friendly flowers…
Aster, bee balm, cornflower, daylily, hollyhock, lavender, lilac, milkweed, phlox, purple coneflower, snapdragon, zinnia

Ten top flowers for hummingbirds…
Bee balm, cardinal flower, zinnia, salvia, bleeding hearts, butterfly bush, trumpet flower, lupine, columbine, petunia

Cardinal Flower
The All of the pictures in this post are from my own backyard. If you'd like more information on how you can do your part to help save the bees and butterflies by creating a friendly habitat for them, here are a few very good resources:

American Meadows for wildflower seeds

The Xerces Society for information on bees, butterflies and dragonflies

The Honeybee Conservancy for planting a bee garden


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Denise Devine is a USA TODAY bestselling author who has writes sweet romantic comedy and inspirational romance. She is currently writing two series, Forever Yours (Inspirational) and Counting Your Blessings (Christmas romantic comedy). You can visit her at www.deniseannettedevine.com.
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12 comments:

  1. Christine BushMay 31, 2016 at 2:38 AM

    Wow! Beautiful garden and great suggestions. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Christine BushMay 31, 2016 at 2:38 AM

    Wow! Beautiful garden and great suggestions. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Northern Lights WritersMay 31, 2016 at 1:46 PM

      Even if you don't have room for a garden, you can plant flowers in pots and the little guys will find them.

      Delete
  3. UnknownMay 31, 2016 at 4:41 AM

    Interesting facts about bees and butterflies. And, thanks for the flower selections.

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    1. Northern Lights WritersMay 31, 2016 at 1:44 PM

      The majority of the flowers I listed are available almost everywhere so you can easily fill your garden with them. I saw that petunias are a top-ten flower for hummingbirds so I bought some today to plant in a pot. In the fall, when many of the flowers are fading, hummers get their nectar from geraniums as they can withstand cool nights. Hummers like the deep red blooms. I always get red with a fuscia center and a salmon pink.

      Delete
  4. Magdalena ScottMay 31, 2016 at 7:50 AM

    Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and garden photos with us, Denise!

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    Replies
    1. Northern Lights WritersMay 31, 2016 at 1:39 PM

      I've posted on this before and I decided to write about it again because I am very concerned about the decline in the bee population. Without them, we lose the ability to grow our own food and feed our livestock.

      Delete
  5. Lyn CoteMay 31, 2016 at 7:54 AM

    I know a beekeeper and am very concerned about losing our bees, our pollinators. Why doesn't the govt do something about the systemic poisons? I'm more concerned about this than the polar ice cap!

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    Replies
    1. Northern Lights WritersMay 31, 2016 at 1:35 PM

      The Xerces Society is very aggressive about discussing legislation state-by-state to ban those pesticides. Many states are finally starting to address the issue. I follow them on FB and they post a lot of interesting updates.

      Delete
  6. MerrilleeMay 31, 2016 at 10:34 AM

    Denise, your garden is lovely. How do you know which bedding plants aren't treated? I don't plant much in AZ because they summers are so hot, but I have discovered that vinca usually survive the heat here.

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    Replies
    1. Northern Lights WritersMay 31, 2016 at 1:32 PM

      You probably need to ask. I heard the news that Home Depot was selling chemically-treated plants, but they may have stopped that practice. Your best bet is to go to a privately-owned nursery and see what they have.

      Delete
  7. Cindy Flores MartinezMay 31, 2016 at 1:38 PM

    This information is fantastic. Gardening was once a favorite pastime of mine. I'm seriously going to look into planting some of the flowers that attract hummingbirds because there are so many here. They use the feeder outside, but during spring and summer, the Orioles take over.

    ReplyDelete

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