Hi there, I am looking to add to my garden some more plants to attract song birds and other wildlife (butterflys, bees etc). I have currently nectere plants, i have limited space and would like to have some climbing plants to help me out, they are to climb up and round home made bird feeder station, I am unsure what climbers are best suited, any information would helpful and grately apprecated.
Lisa
If you tell us your location it would help.
Opps my bad, Queensland Australia on the Sunshine Coast is my location
Hi Lisa,
I'm a fan of native plants, so I would recommend those myself.
Most climbers are adapted to at least partly shady conditions since they need something to climb up.
Some specific butterfly host plants that are climbers:
http://www.butterflyhostplants.com.au/gallery/Climber
Other climbers not in that list that come to mind (and have fruit and/or flowers):
- Wombat berry (Eustrephus latifolius)
- Scrambling lily (Geitonoplesium cymosum)
- Bower of beauty (Pandorea jasminoides)
- Wonga vine (Pandorea pandorana)
- Native sarsparilla (Hardenbergia violacea) - not a high climber
- Kennedia rubicunda (I forget the common name)
You have plenty of choice for native nurseries on the Sunshine Coast too (depending where you are).
- Coolum Native Nursery
- Forest Heart at Maleny
- Noosa Land Care at Pomona
- Barung Native Nursery
amongst others
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Hi Lisa.
I'd recommend planting species which are indigenous to where you live. That is, they grow naturally in your area. This means that they will provide the natural habitat which the wildlife which is indigenous to your area have depended on for aeons. So you might want to have a yarn with your local council's environment officer about such species. Another advantage of indigenous species is that they need less care since they're adapted to their local conditions.
A creeper which probably grows in your neck of the woods is Native Lilac Hardenbergia violacea, a preferred plant of the Common Grass Blue butterfly. It also provides nesting shelter for Fairy-wrens.
A few more creepers which probably grow naturally in your area & which will attract wildllife are
Since you're short on space you could consider growing some of the small shrubs indigenous to your area. However, if you're away from home a lot you'll need a realiable person to keep up the water to those species which need it.
You might want to rethink your bird feeder. There's lots of information on this forum about the pros & cons of artificially feeding birds (type in <artificial feeding> in the search box near the top of this page) but, generally, wildlife does best on the food to which is naturally adapted. In fact, some bird species (Parrots, Cockatoos) suffer horribly from a virus which they can contract from each other when they congregate at feeding stations. Planting their natural wildlife habitat is the preferred option, in my opinion.
Thanks Tim,
i am a newbie to gardening and can find it a little overwhelming at times with the amount off different types, which have many different different names for the one plant.
your information is a great help & will research some off the above.
Much appreciated.
lisa
Thanks to you Woko to.
Got a lot to choose from now, mayb a little to much lol!
but all information is much appreciated.
lisa
Yes, it can be rather overwhelming when starting out, Lisa. While scientific names for plants look rather daunting they are very handy to know because each plant has a specific scientific name assigned to it. This avoids the problem which you identified of some plants having more than one common name. It takes a while to learn them but after a while it becomes commonplace to use them - a bit like living in France & learning French.
To make it easier, you might want to think about joining a bushcare or Landcare group. Group members babble away in scientific name-speak with gay abandon & when you're out in the field with them it doesn't take long to associate the scientific names with the plants.