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Re: Planting for Birds (fwd)
- To: carolinabirds@duke.edu
- Subject: Re: Planting for Birds (fwd)
- From: Joshua Stuart Rose <jsr6@duke.edu>
- Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 09:40:53 -0500 (EST)
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
Hi C-birders,
By popular demand, here is a repost of Will's message about planting for
birds. Note that there is also a number of books available on this
subject; I fondly remember one I had years ago called "Gardening for
Wildlife" which I think was published by the National Wildlife
Federation.
Happy planting!
Josh
Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology
jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 13:04:03 -0500
From: Will Cook <cwcook@duke.edu>
Here's what I'd recommend:
For privacy/windbreak, plant our native Eastern Redcedar instead of Leyland
Cypress (which isn't native anywhere!), unless you have apple trees. (Cedar-
Apple rust is the problem.) Birds love it and it doesn't get huge like the
Leyland does. Cedar Waxwings were named for their love of it. It provides
food and dense cover for many species. Excellent habitat for Saw-whet Owls.
:-)
For hummingbirds:
*Salvia guaranitica - hummers just love them, even though the flowers are not
red. Hardy here.
*Salvia splendens - many cultivars are available at any grocery store or
garden center (and seed catalogs). Plant tall red ones.
*Salvia vanhouttei - spectacular 3'x3'x3' plant covered with burgundy flowers
all fall. Killed below 28F but very easy to propagate and keep indoors for
the winter. Just stick a cutting in a glass of water, give it some light,
and in a few weeks you'll have a new plant with lots of roots. You can get
this from Niche Gardens.
*Salvia greggii - small bush, blooms much of the year, many cultivars
available.
*Salvia microphylla - similar to S. greggii
*Salvia coccinea - blooms late into the fall, killed below 20F. The best
cultivar may be 'Lady in Red', which is available (seed) from Burpee's and
others.
*Salvia elegans - Pineapple Sage. Attracts Anna's Hummingbirds. Just barely
hardy here. (None of these Salvias is native to NC)
*Lonicera sempervirens - Trumpet Honeysuckle
*Bignonia capreolata - Crossvine
*Albizia julibrissin - Mimosa Tree
Other good cover/food plants:
*Ilex vomitoria - Yaupon (as well as any other holly)
*Myrica cerifera - Wax Myrtle
*Pines - need these for Brown-headed Nuthatches and Pine Warblers
*Celtis spp. - Hackberries, Sugarberry
*Malus spp. - Apple trees - nice and buggy, so lots of food. Don't mix with
Junipers unless you don't mind the disease.
I'm sure there are many more that I can't think of right now.
Good cover/food plants to AVOID:
*Lonicera japonica - Japanese Honeysuckle. Birds love it, but it's a nasty
weed, second only to Kudzu as "the vine that ate the South". Plant our
native Lonicera sempervirens instead. I'd sooner plant Toxicodendron spp.
(Poison-Ivy, Poison-Oak, Poison-Sumac).
*Eleagnus spp. - The Army Corps of Engineers is in love with these weedy
plants, but there are plenty of better native alternatives.
*Ligustrum sinense - Chinese Privet. Very aggressive weedy shrub. Birds
love it, but you'll soon have thousands of seedlings in your yard. Plant
Yaupon instead.
*Photinia spp. - Redtips. Birds love it, but it's tremendously overplanted,
susceptible to disease, and there are better native alternatives.
*Hedera helix - Ivy. Provides excellent cover for mice and rats that forage
under your birdfeeder. Also, it'll take over your yard if you don't pull it
up regularly.
*Trumpet Creeper - hummingbirds love it, but it'll take over your yard.