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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Who's Ready for Fall? by Anna J Stewart

Fall is, by far, my most favorite time of year. The heat of summer is (hopefully) gone and soon we'll be settling into cooler temps, that crisp pre-winter chill in the air and I can unload my cozy clothes that include Mickey Mouse fleece pajama bottoms and snugly sweatshirts. (Please note, I've written this during a week where we are expecting 7 days of 100+ temps. Ugh).

My tea selections move from the fruits of summer (raspberry and vanilla) to toastier selections like apple spice and peppermint and...of course, we'll be getting ready for all the holiday goodies about to land on us like a ton of bricks! This year, I purposely arranged deadlines so I wouldn't be bogged down with a book due just after the first year (next year will be another story).  I'm living for October 15th, first and foremost because I'll finally be able to catch up on my reading!

www.pinterest.com

What else will this time of year bring? I'll be gearing up for the release of my first full-length Harlequin Heartwarming romance. THE BAD BOY OF BUTTERFLY HARBOR will hit e-readers on December 1st (select Walmart stores in January) and launches my Butterfly Harbor series which takes place in a fictional coastal town inspired by Pacific Grove, CA.  I've often heard most authors have their own personal "themes" when it comes to the stories they write. The more books I finish, the more I realize that's true, at least for me. My books tend to revolve around two recurring ideas: family and coming home; finding that place where you (or my characters) belong. That's the journey Luke Saxon will be undertaking when this bad boy comes back to the town he left in disgrace. Only now...he's the new sheriff. Love how life brings us full circle sometimes albeit with a touch of irony.

photo courtesy of www.commonsensecanada.ca 

So...what's your favorite season and what are you plans for the fall? Any special brews of teas you'd like to share? Or how about books you're looking forward to? I'd love to hear all about them. Thanks for stopping by and of course, as always, happy reading!

~Anna J

A geek at heart, national bestselling author Anna J Stewart writes "refreshingly unique, quietly humorous, and profoundly moving romance" (RT Book Reviews) for Harlequin Heartwarming and Berkley InterMix. Visit her online and make sure to sign up for her news only newsletter. She gives away a surprise gift box to one lucky subscriber in every issue!

Want to keep up with news from Sweet romance Reads authors? Sign up for the SRR newsletter today. Like chatting about Sweet Romance? Join the authors of Sweet Romance Reads in our cyber Cafe!