ATTRACTING WILDLIFE

People living in the Southwest should have little trouble attracting wildlife to their yards. Even modest plantings and a small water feature provide habitat that will bring in birds, butterflies and dragonflies. Below are a few pond pictures, a bee box, and some of the plants we've found to be useful attractants for butterflies and hummingbirds.

This island of plantings outside the kitchen window provides plenty of food for butterflies and hummingbirds (20 August 2006)

Probably the most important bird attractant in the yard, our small pond also hosts mammals, butterflies, dragonflies and other aquatic insects, beetles, and other life forms. Its flexible liner extends under the beach area in the foreground where shallow water over gravel creates a popular spot for birds to bathe and drink.

The beautiful male Desert Firetail (Telebasis salva) is one of more than 20 species of dragonflies and damselflies we have found at our backyard pond. (5 October 2006)

A male Montezuma Quail takes a drink at the pond (25 July 2006).

Besides attracting a great diversity of birds, a few mammals come to our small wildlife pond. Here, a rather confiding Bobcat comes in for a late afternoon drink (16 May 2007) (Karen LeMay photo)

We frequently see a Gray Fox or two at night. This one surprised us when it came in for a mid-afternoon drink at the pond (20 June 2009)

Mason Bees (Osmia) fly for a few weeks early in the spring. Nesting females are easily attracted to holes drilled in a block of wood. Ours utilized cavities in our firewood as well (2 February 2009)

 Here is our very simple bee box - scrap wood that escaped the wood stove (L). This hole (R) has been provisioned with eggs then packed shut with chewed vegetation (18 March 2009). To learn how to build simple nests for native bees, click here.   

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Bouvardia ternifolia, or Firecrackerbush, is a member of the coffee family (Rubiacea). This small, perennial shrub is native to our canyons (7 June 2006). Look at those tubes! What more could a hummingbird want?

"Desert Sunrise" a hybrid of Agastache cana and A. rupestris is arguably one of our most valuable plants. A long blooming perennial, it provides color, architectural quality, and loads of nectar for hummingbirds and butterflies 7 August 2006).

Prized for its architectural quality, Ocotillo is also an excellent source of nectar. Here a Scott's Oriole probes a cluster of buds (11 May 2007).

Although guilty of being generic, Zinnia (L) is showy and attracts many butterflies (10 August 2005); Verbena pulchella (30 August 2004) (R) grows quickly, needs little water and nearly all the butterflies nectar at it.

The statuesque Basketflower (10 August 2005) is a butterfly magnet but requires a fair amount of water. Try planting it in a bog garden.

This passionflower (Passiflora caerulea) is a host (food) plant for caterpillars of the Gulf Fritillary. Its fast growing, evergreen vines quickly cover a fence or trellis (9 July 2004) (L); Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) is a favorite of Broad-billed Hummingbirds (3 April 2005) (R).

Pomegranate blossoms are favored by hummingbirds (12 June 2004).

Later in the year. the Pomegranate's seeds are eaten by Verdins and various woodpeckers (20 December 2006)

Growing to at least five feet in height, this form of Cosmos provides a mass of colorful flowers and is useful for filling gaps in the garden. Two Queens feed in the foreground  (Karen LeMay photo) (26 September 2005).

Hummingbird Trumpet (Zauschneria arizonica) (above and below) is another fine hummingbird and butterfly plant with bright orange-red tubular blossoms (20 September 2006).

Creeping Lantana (Lantana montividensis) (1 July 2004) (L) and Vine Milkweed (Sarcostemma cynanchioides), a late summer blooming perennial (23 August 2005) (R). Both attract large and small butterflies.

Penstemon eatoni, or Firecracker Penstemon, provides early season nectar for hummingbirds and butterflies (25 February 2006).

Lantana (10 August 2005) (L) and the southwestern native Wooly Butterfly Bush (Buddleia marrubifolia) (9 July 2005) (R) provide color and butterfly nectar.

Coneflower (Echinacea) is both showy and an excellent nectar plant for butterflies, bees and lycid beetles (2 July 2007).

Lindheimer or Velvet Leaf Senna (Senna lindheimeriana) is a showy, perennial shrub that needs little water. A host plant for Cloudless Sulphur and Sleepy Orange, it also provides nectar for other species (9 August 2006).

Blossoms of a Pineleaf Penstemon flutter in the breeze as a hummingbird feeds on them (19 May 2006 ) (K. Lemay photo).

Russian Sage (Perovskia) is large, showy, and provides food for many species of butterflies, as well as native bees and wasps (7 June 2006).

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), is a spectacular pond plant that attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, and moths such as this White-lined Sphinx (Hyles lineata) (20 September 2004) (Karen LeMay photo).

Catmint (10 April 2006) uses little water and attracts large numbers of blues and skippers (Karen LeMay photo). 

Ornamental oregano (Origanum) forms a spreading, evergreen clump that can, after two or three years, be divided to share with friends. It grows in full sun (above 8 July 2009). The shot below shows several dozen Lyside Sulphurs nectaring on this plant (9 July 2009)

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Two Salvias that attract hummingbirds and hordes of butterflies are S. serpyllifolia (8 November 2005) (above) and S. grahami (8 November 2005) (below). In these pictures, dozens of Mexican Yellows and Sleepy Oranges are nectaring on each, as well as smaller numbers of Tailed Oranges and Gulf Fritillaries. Both produce more blooms with pruning and an occasional sip of water.

For additional information concerning butterflies, moths, wildlife gardening, native plants, xeriscape gardening, plant sales, and water harvesting in SE Arizona, please visit the following sites:

SEABA (Southeastern Arizona Butterfly Association)

Butterflies and Moths of North America

Butterfly Plant List: SEABA Butterfly Garden-Tucson Audubon Society's Mason Center

The Lepidoptera of Southeastern Arizona

Desert Survivors - An important plant source in Tucson

Tohono Chul Park - Education, birdwatching, and great plant sales

Arizona Sonora Desert Museum - Education, birdwatching, and great plant sales

Little River Nursery - "Plants grown here for here"

High Country Gardens (On line plant catalog)

Tucson Botanical Gardens - Education, birdwatching, and plant sales

Oasis Water Harvesting - Rain barrels, pumps, water collection design, etc.

WaterWise: University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Cochise County

The following books have provided us not only with information but also with inspiration