Attracting Birds and Butterflies

Starred review from January 20, 2020
There is no mystery to creating a garden that attracts birds and butterflies, Ellis (How to Prune Trees and Shrubs), publications director for the American Horticultural Society, asserts in her comprehensive volume—it’s simply a matter of facilitating the food, water, shelter, and security any animal needs to flourish. In the book’s first section, “Welcoming Winged Wildlife,” she shows how to translate these basic features into “wildlife-friendly yards and gardens... filled with flowers from spring to frost, brilliant berries, and glistening water—along with dazzling birds and butterflies.” The second section, “Creating a Bird Garden,” describes using nest boxes, shrubs, brambles, grasses, and vines to make an inviting space for roosting or nesting. The next, “Planting for Hummingbirds,” covers eclectic horticultural possibilities, urging the planting of such flowers as foxgloves, columbines, snapdragons, and hollyhocks. The final section, “Attracting Butterflies,” highlights the milkweed plants, which will attract, in addition to monarchs, species that include “painted ladies, viceroys, skippers, and question marks.” Spanning horticulture, ornithology, and lepidopterology, Ellis’s encouraging primer will help even the most modest gardener create a lively and colorful habitat for winged creatures.

February 1, 2020
Derived from a Taylor's Guide and two Bird Watcher's Digest books, this Home Grown Gardening series guide to inviting winged visitors to one's garden includes guides to plants, birds, and butterflies. A brief summary of the necessities for attracting flying wildlife includes food, water, nesting sites, and plant arrangement. Then three sections address specifics for nurturing bird, hummingbird, and butterfly habitats. Each section suggests plants along with accoutrements for shelter and water, followed by one-page profiles of common North American creatures featuring information such as common and Latin names, description, identifying marks, sounds, behavior, host plants, nectar plants, life cycle, habitat, and general frequency of backyard sightings. The plant profiles include common and Latin names, description, growing information, and color photos, as well as specific details about which birds, hummingbirds, and/or butterflies they may attract to the garden. This handy reference guide covers more varied ground than typical and will be very useful for gardeners focused on welcoming birds and butterflies. Includes current (2012) USDA Hardiness Zone map and index.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)