Explore Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Can't find the answer in our existing FAQs, submit a question to Mr. Smarty Plants.
Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.
rate this answer
Sunday - March 27, 2005
From: Longview, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Wildlife Gardens
Title: Luring wildlife in Longview
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I live in Longview, Texas and am in the process of trying to restore a natural habitat for wildlife in my area. Could you give me a list of plants that are native specific so that I can lure local birds, butterflies, etc.?ANSWER:
There are two articles, "Butterfly Gardening Resources" and "Wildlife Gardening Bibliography" in our Native Plant Library to download in PDF format that you might find useful. Plants with berries attract many birds and small mammals and those with red flowers attract hummingbirds. Butterflies are attracted to plants with yellow, blue, and purple flowers. You can have a combination of trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses that will fill these requirements. For small trees you might consider all or any of three small trees of the genus Ilex, Possum haw (Ilex decidua), American holly (I. opaca), and Yaupon (I. vomitoria). Flowering dogwood and Cherry laurel (Prunus caroliniana) are two more choices for small trees. A small tree that would attract hummingbirds is Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia), as would these two vines, Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata and Trumpet-creeper Campsis radicans). A couple of small bushes, Coral-berry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus) and American beauty-berry (Callicarpa americana), with their colorful fruits are also good candidates for attracting birds. Several grasses native to East Texas attract butterflies and birds: Sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula), Inland sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans and Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium). For herbaceous wildflowers you might consider Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), and Lance-leaved coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata). There are many more possibilities for East Texas. Look around you and see what plants you like. Once you have identified them you can look them up in the Native Plants Database by their common or scientific names. On the page for each individual plant be sure to click on "Benefits" at the top of the page to learn if the plant attracts wildlife. You can also check for nurseries and seed companies in your area that specialize in native plants in our Suppliers Directory.More Wildlife Gardens Questions
Why are there no monarch butterflies feeding on my milkweed
October 29, 2008 - I brought a milkweed from LA that has orange and yellow flowers. I live in Denton, TX. I haven't seen any eggs from the monarchs yet. Do the monarchs live on different milkweed in TX? I looked up ...
view the full question and answer
Plants to prevent erosion in IL
August 02, 2012 - We just got done building a house and have leveled all of the dirt piles. We do have a row of straw bales to help prevent the dirt from washing onto the neighbors property. It is the wrong time of ye...
view the full question and answer
Horse-friendly plants for Powell OH
September 24, 2010 - I am looking for horse friendly plants, i.e., shrubs, trees, bushes, etc. that can be planted in wet area in Ohio. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
view the full question and answer
Passion for passionflower
May 16, 2010 - We have passionflower vine on our trellis. We planted the vines about 3 weeks ago. they grew well and started to flower. Recently a number of the vines began to wither while others are ok. The plants...
view the full question and answer
Wildlife habitat in Gambia
April 06, 2005 - Thank you for the interesting website.
We bought a plot in the Gambia and would like to change it into a habitat for different living species; hence, your kindly advise is welcome as we are definitel...
view the full question and answer
 |
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. Mr. Smarty Plants wants you to be his Facebook friend. Click the Facebook icon to add yourself to Mr. Smarty Plants list of friends. |
