If you plant it, they will come~

Butterfly Mint Bush, Monardella-antonina, 

Photo Courtesy of Las Pilitas Nursery

Here in Southern California gardeners experience unique challenges, drought being one, but there are joys as well, such as having hummingbirds that visit all year long.  If you want to attract more butterflies and hummingbirds and even native bees (which do not sting, BTW) to your garden, then you want to plant more flowers.  It’s as simple as that, really. And, if you like seeing flowers blooming, then this is a win-win for you: Plant them and they will come!

While our East Coast friends are blanketed in snow, their gardens asleep and requiring little care, here in Southern California we are somewhat obligated to keep our front yards looking tidy and vibrant--- all year long.  At the same time, after working in the garden we can enjoy sitting back in our favorite chair with a cold drink--- all year long.

To my mind, there is nothing more rewarding than watching pollinators move about my garden.  It means that I have planted enough nectar-rich native plants.  Butterflies, hummingbirds, and native bees are all looking for nectar.  They zoom in on the splashes of color they spy down below in your yard, and close in to see if they can feast at your place today. I used to grow flowers just for the beauty and fragrance, but now I’ve found that adding wildlife to the garden scene makes it all the more interesting.

I recommend native plants and wildflower seeds. Why? Because native plants are naturally adapted to our climate, our soil, and our weather, so they require less water and little maintenance.

Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae)

on Alpine sage (Salvia clevelanddii) 

Photo Courtesy of Las Pilitas Nursery

Attract Pollinators with Nectar Rich Wildflowers: Native wildflower seed mixes are a wonderful addition to your garden. They can be spread en masse for a sweeping meadow look, even replacing your lawn entirely, or they can be tucked into existing flower borders.  An interesting idea is to hand-sow wildflower seeds in pots or barrels and place them in sunny locations.  Their blooms will be unique from the usual big box store flowers we see everywhere.  And the pollinators will come.  For better success, you need to sow local native wildflowers, rather than a generic mix meant for the entire country. Native seed mixes are available for both Southern California’s coastal areas and for inland areas.

Attract Hummingbirds: The hummingbirds will thank you over and over again with repeat visits if you plant their beloved sage, aka Salvia.  Salvias are perennials that will stick around, growing larger year after year, filling out a garden bed and adding more flowers.   While there are many different varieties of sage, look for Hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea) with whorls of red flowers. Hummingbirds are attracted to these plants, with red being their favorite color. Hummingbird sage can be grown in garden beds, as a ground cover, or under trees.

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on
San Joaquin Willow Bush (Salix gooddingii)Location: Leo Carrillo State Park
 Photography by Kathy Vilim

Attract Monarch Butterflies: We should all add milkweed plants to our gardens for the monarch butterflies. I watch the monarchs sometimes on my walks, flitting about my neighbors’ yards, looking for that splash of color that means one thing: nectar, and looking for that special plant, the Milkweed (Ascelpias), that is the only plant they can lay their eggs on to raise the next generation (called a host plant).  When the young caterpillars emerge, they will devour the plant, consuming as many as 20 leaves each; it will be their food and their safety until they emerge as butterflies.  So, plant milkweed for the youngsters and a variety of nectar-rich flowers for the adults.   (Important: Plant the variety of Milkweed (Ascelpias) that is native to your region – NOT the Tropical Milkweed.  For most of us in Los Angeles, that would be the Narrow-Leaf Milkweed for coastal regions.)

Attract Native Bees: Having more bees in your yard is the answer to a flourishing vegetable garden. Native (wild) bees do NOT sting, so don’t be afraid to attract them. For an easy-to-grow bee magnet, plant the wonderfully aromatic Rosemary plant. Did you know this herb helps improve memory retention? Not remembering the past, but future-memory, remembering what you have planned for tomorrow! Anything that helps me with my To-Do List is a welcome addition to my garden.

Go Organic:  One more important thing to mention: Your garden will NOT support butterflies and other pollinators if you are spraying chemicals.

Resources: One source of native wildflower seeds is the Theodore Payne Foundation.  They also raise native plants, like Salvia and Milkweed.  http://store.theodorepayne.org/SFNT.html. For more resources on finding native plants, visit your local chapter of the Native Plant Society http://www.calscape.org/plant_nursery.php

Celebrating the Great Western Monarch Migration

Photo Credit: Kathy Vilim, Monarch Butterfly on Willow Bush

~Orange wings against blue sky, floating effortlessly high above us…their flight is so Free! Watching Monarchs fly makes our spirits fly free, too~

Pismo Beach, California:

The Amtrak train (at Grover Beach Station) lets off a good hearty whistle, as I step out onto the platform with my sister, Jeanne. We have traveled some 175 miles north to the Central Coast from Los Angeles to experience the Annual Western Monarch Migration.  Loaded with supplies for a couple of days of camping, we walk outside into the fresh ocean air and make our way northwest on Pacific Coast Highway to the Butterfly Grove of Pismo Beach. It is a short walk alongside the railroad tracks, and our campground is located just next door.

Migration of the West Coast Monarchs:

It is Autumn and the Great Monarch Migration is underway.  Most of us have heard of the Great Annual Migration of the Monarchs, where the butterflies travel as far as 4500 miles from Canada south to the overwintering grove in Michoacan, Mexico. But few people know about the Migration of the West Coast Monarchs.  The Monarchs that live west of the Rockies (California, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada and New Mexico) do not need to make the long journey to Eastern Mexico to overwinter.  Instead, they choose to fly to groves on the Central and Southern California coast where the climate is just right for their needs. These groves are some of California’s natural treasures, and how the Monarchs find these groves is one of the many Monarch mysteries.

Of the more than 400 overwintering groves along the Pacific Coastline... READ MORE 

As published in Whole Life Magazine February/March 2017 issue.