Your yard can be what most yards are – a playground for your children; a place for parties, BBQ’s, and practicing your chip shot for golf; and for your dog to have a romp – but it can also be a wildlife refuge. Much depends on the plants you choose and how you place them. And since you are going to plant a few things in your yard anyway, why not choose plants that birds, butterflies, moths, and insects will also use?
My husband Cleon and I consider our one-acre yard to be a wildlife refuge and all our decisions are made not only for ourselves, but also keeping in mind all the plants and creatures that live here.
With each plant listed below, I give you its growing requirements but also my experience with it. How to deadhead, what to do if it is plagued with pests, how to use it, and what will look good growing with it. And as in every section, click on the button if you have a question, a comment, or a suggestion of a plant you would like to see included.
Our yard and gardens are a bird, butterfly, insect, and small mammal sanctuary and in the 20 years we have lived here, all have increased in number. It has been hard work, but good work. Work with hands. Using muscles. Breathing fresh air. Listening to nature all around. And now, 20 years after we started with a blank slate, the yard and gardens are a sanctuary not just for all the creatures that live here, but also for us. We simply cannot imagine living anywhere else, but it has not always been easy for us……
I am afraid of snakes and Cleon does not like spiders, but we both realize snakes and spiders have necessary places in the balance of nature and life. Lots of spiders and an occasional snake or two live in our yard and garden. We may not be totally at peace with that, but we are making progress. I no longer run faster than the speed of light, screaming like a banshee when I see a snake and Cleon no longer reaches for the first thing at hand to swat a spider. Progress! And because we have accepted our fears – and worked on them – our yard is a more balanced slice of nature. There are creatures living simply everywhere – so many unseen unless we really look. We cannot do much to change the state of the world, but we can bring balance and variety to our yard. Make it a welcoming place – not just for birds and everything else that lives here – but also for us.
Click on each plant to read about its growing conditions, my experience with it, and my recommendations.
Perennials Native to North America – check range maps to make sure they are native in your state and county
- Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
- Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa)
- Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta)
- Monarda – Scarlet Bee Balm and Wild Bergamot
- Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
- Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
- Royal Catchfly (Silene regia)
Non-native Perennials
Perennials that are generally not thought of when a groundcover is needed, but this is exactly what they are because they are aggressive. All listed here are native somewhere in the US.
Vines
Shrubs and Trees Native to North America
Non-native Shrubs and Trees
Annuals
Lists of Plants Organized by Growing Conditions
Planting and Transplanting
Pruning and Deadheading
All articles written and copyrighted by Linda Hendricks Spence.