Bring Wildlife to Your Doorstep by Planting Native Shrubs

While many of us know that planting certain flowers can attract butterflies or hummingbirds, there are many other wildlife species you can attract by planting specific native shrubs.

The following shrubs are good native species to consider adding to your home:

Dogwoods (Grey, Pagoda or Red-Osier) -

DOGWOOD

Dogwoods are not only a beautiful addition to your garden but produce berries that are eaten by many native birds, including bluebirds, cedar waxwings, downy woodpeckers, brown thrashers and wood thrushes. The dogwood provides food and cover for small animals and nesting sites for robins and finches.

Downy Serviceberry -

CHOKECHERRY

The serviceberry flowers produce a fruit that attracts 19 bird species in the early summer.

Chokecherry - The chokecherry produces clusters of reddish to dark purple berries which provide food during the summer to over 43 different bird species, including cardinals and bluebirds. The leaves also provide food for a number of butterfly species.

Nannyberry - In the fall the nannyberry produces a fruit which can provide food for many birds including bluebirds, gray catbird, cedar waxwing, 

BLUEBERRY

thrushes and woodpeckers. Since the fruit can remain into the winter, it provides winter food as well.

Blackberry/Raspberry/Gooseberry/Blueberry - These shrubs provide midsummer berries for you and for wildlife including a wide array of birds and small mammals.

Common Juniper- While common juniper provides food for purple finches, eastern bluebirds and cedar waxwing, it also contributes by providing shelter to wildlife.

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While non-native turf grasses also sequester carbon, native prairie grasses can be far more effective in combatting climate change.  For example, non-native turf grass sequesters about 160 pounds of CO2 per acre. However, this net amount is significantly reduced by the amount of CO2 created by watering, fertilizing, and mowing. In contrast, mature native prairie grasses sequester 2,400 - 3,600 pounds of CO2 per acre.

Adding compost to soils of native prairie grasses will further boost the capacity of native prairie grass to remove CO2. Composting provides nutrient rich soils which greatly increases the amount of carbon storage in the soils.

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Plant ID Quiz - Identify Your Teas!
 

The Plant Corner

 NATIVE

BUTTERFLY MILKWEED

ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA

Butterfly Milkweed is a popular native landscaping species because of its low profile and striking orange flowers that attract butterflies and bees. It belongs to the plant family Asclepidaceae, a name thought to be derived from Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine due to its strong medicinal qualities. Its toxins are used for defense by Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus) against their predators.

The Butterfly Milkweed is a perennial native species that grows to a height of one to three feet and has showy, rounded or flat-topped groups of flowers at the top of the stems. The flowers have five petals and are usually orange, although they can range from red to yellow and bloom in June, July, and August. The stems are hairy, erect, and grow in clumps, and the rootstocks are woody. There is white, milky sap within the stems and leaves. This plant prefers disturbed areas with rocky, sandy, or loamy soils lying in full to part sun.

Butterfly Milkweed is poisonous to humans and livestock, although it historically has been widely used by Native Americans for food, fiber, and medicine. European Americans also used it for a variety of medicinal uses including treatment for bronchial and pulmonary ailments, and it was officially listed in the US Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1905 and in the National Formulary from 1916 to 1936.

Butterflies and bees both are attracted to the blooms of the Butterfly Milkweed. Monarch Butterflies depend solely on plants in the milkweed family for food and laying their eggs. The toxins in the plants are tolerated by the butterflies but make the flesh of their caterpillars distasteful to most predators. They have warning patterns on their wings and bodies so that predators can learn to avoid eating them.

Reference: USDA NRCS Plant Guide. http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_astu.pdf

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The Plant Corner 

INVASIVE  

WHITE SWEETCLOVER
MELILOTUS ALBUS

White Sweetclover (Melilotus albus) is in the Fabaceae family with other legumes, all of which fix nitrogen in the soil for uptake by plants. It grows to about five feet tall and bears racemes of small white flowers on the ends of branches with three-pinnate leaves. The seeds are legumes 4 mm in length housing typically one seed. It grows in full to part sun and is associated with disturbed sites. It is tolerant of nutrient poor, dry sites and moderate salinity, and is often found in road ditches and along railway lines.

White Sweetclover originated in the Mediterranean region of Eurasia and is nonnative to North America. In the early 1900s, it was a choice planting in the United States for bees and amending the soil in crop fields. It has also been used as stabilization for road cuts, nesting cover for waterfowl, medicine for inflammation and stomach issues, tea, and scented packets for linens. It is a highly nutritious food for livestock and wildlife including deer, rabbits, birds, and insects.

Despite its beneficial qualities, White Sweetclover causes problems for crops and natural areas, especially grasslands and riparian corridors within the Great Plains and Midwest. In crop fields, it carries many diseases that can be spread to various crops, and it can taint the flavor of wheat. In natural areas, it negatively impacts the recruitment and growth of native forbs and grasses, and over time species richness decreases in areas infested with Sweetclover. This results in a less diverse community, which in turn negatively impacts habitat, carbon sequestration, water infiltration, and other ecological functions that natural areas provide.

The key to controlling White Sweetclover is maintaining healthy stands of perennial, native vegetation and minimizing disturbance. If the Sweetclover problem already exists, it can be controlled using a strategic combination of mowing, hand-pulling, herbicide application, and prescribed burning, of which timing throughout the year is important.

Resource: USDA Forest Service Fire Effects Information System. 2013. http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/melspp/all.html.

Tallgrass Restoration Wins Award

Tallgrass Restoration was awarded the 2013 Environmental Award for the Best Natural Landscaping by the Village of Schaumburg!  Tallgrass used its experience in natives to bring the prairie to Tallgrass Restoration's office in Schaumburg.

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