Why to Attract Bees‚ Birds‚ and Butterflies to Your Tennessee Garden
One way to attract bees‚ birds and butterflies is to plant lots of nectar-rich native plants that bloom from spring to fall․ If you avoid using pesticides‚ these pollinators may even stick around․ Tennessee has its gardening advantages: a climate ranging from USDA hardiness zone 6b to 7b‚ and a great many native plants‚ which will do very well with no care at all‚ provided they are given a good start․ Below is a list of the best plants for the job and some information most articles on the subject still miss․
Native plants and native bees evolved together‚ and as such‚ bees have evolved to rely more heavily on native food sources over the millennia․ Pollinator plants benefit native bees more than non-native plants such as clover․
Though they're not the most glamorous of visitors for your garden or landscaped area‚ bees and butterflies pollinate one-third of our food and many of the flowering plants in your landscape․ Birds prey on and help control insect populations‚ and help to disperse seeds that will keep native plant communities growing․ Planting with these pollinators in mind is more about patching up a hole in a fast-failing ecological system than it is about making your garden pretty․
The good news is that you can almost always get them to visit your garden by planting a few carefully chosen perennials in sunny, moist places․
Red Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
This is one of the best hummingbird plants you can grow in Tennessee․ It's hard to imagine a plant with flowers more perfectly shaped for the long bills of hummingbirds․ As most bees and butterflies are unable to reach that nectar‚ the bird has all summer to feed there․
Cardinal flower is a plant that grows 2-4 ft․ (0․61-1․22 m)tall and 10-14 in (25-36 cm) across․ It has red flowers on spikes that bloom in early summer to early autumn․ It will tolerate full sun but prefers partial shade‚ and it needs moist soil․ Cardinal flower would be a good plant for that wet spot in the yard that never seems to dry out‚ or for near a pond or stream․ A small amount of compost at the bottom of the planting hole provides a suitable foundation for this plant‚ which prefers organic to clay․
Another interesting tidbit: cardinal flower is native to most of the eastern United States‚ but has become increasingly more difficult to find in the wild over the last 100 years due to overharvesting and habitat destruction․ By growing it in your garden‚ you are helping support the species' survival․
Bearded Iris (Iris germanica)
The bearded iris is not very appealing to hummingbirds or butterflies‚ but its flowers are attractive to bees․ More practically, as part of a pollinator garden‚ these flowers are useful in that they help to fill in the mid-spring with flowers at a time when the early spring bees‚ just emerged‚ need food․ The plant is hardy in zones 3 through 9‚ including all of Tennessee․
Plant rhizomes 16 to 18 inches (40 to 46 cm) apart for air circulation․ Crowding is the number one cause of rot problems in bearded iris․ Plants need six hours of direct sunlight per day‚ and a neutral to slightly acidic pH․ They should dry between waterings to prevent rot․ Overwatering will do more harm than underwatering since the rhizomes will quickly rot away in saturated soil․ The clumps should be dug and divided every three to four years after the flowering is finished so that the clumps do not become crowded and stingy with flowers․
Milkweed (Asclepias)
If you're specifically looking to support monarch caterpillars‚ milkweed is the only food source they can eat․ Monarchs have declined to the point that planting milkweed is now one of the single most impactful things a home gardener can do to support butterflies․ Adult monarchs (along with a long list of other butterflies and native bees) also drink nectar from milkweed․
Common milkweed‚ and butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)‚ are both found in Tennessee․ Butterfly weed is the preferred plant for gardens because of its smaller size (1 to 2 ft [30 to 61 cm] tall) and its greater ability to tolerate drier‚ sandier‚ better-drained soils than common milkweed․ Plant in full sun and be patient: it may take a full year before you see milkweed starting to grow above ground‚ as it uses a lot of energy for roots․ Once established‚ the orange or yellow blooms appear in June‚ July‚ or August to coincide with the monarch migration through Tennessee in late summer and early fall․
Rounding Out the Garden: Coneflower‚ Bee Balm‚ and Black-Eyed Susan
The pollinator garden is best planted not to provide food only for six weeks‚ but for the entire growing season‚ with purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)‚ for example‚ flowering from early summer to fall․ It is one of the easiest perennials to grow in the clay soil of Tennessee and needs little to no supplemental watering once established․ Bee balm (also Monarda) produces shaggy red or purple flowers that attract bees and hummingbirds․ It also prefers air circulation to prevent a powdery mildew outbreak in hot summers such as ours․ Black-eyed Susan fills the gaps with yellow blooms that bees hit hard all the way to September․
TN Nursery sells all of these as established perennials as opposed to seed packets‚ which is meaningful because established roots mean you don't have to get through the first year's establishment period and often get bloom the first year instead of waiting for year two․
A Few Practical Tips That Actually Move the Needle
Perennial plantings should be clustered together in groups of three to five of the same species․ Pollinators are more efficient and more easily spotted‚ and can find more flower resources in small groups of several flowers of the same plant species․
Skip pesticides or stop spraying once plants begin flowering․ Products branded as bee-friendly can still harm butterfly caterpillars and helpful insects․
Provide a water supply․ A birdbath with a few flat stones placed in it where butterflies can land‚ or a dish of wet sand that bees can frequent‚ helps a great deal․ Pollinators also need water‚ particularly in hot‚ dry weather; this is common in Tennessee during August․
Leave some stems and litter over winter rather than cutting everything down in the fall․ Many native bees spend winter in hollow plant stems‚ and a complete fall cleanup removes their overwintering habitat․
Take two or three of the plants above and put them where you can see them from your window or porch, and in the first season, you'll see some action․ Add a few plants a year until in a couple of years, you have a garden doing real ecological work that looks better than any lawn ever could․
"
