Last week we suggested you plant one English Lavender and one Catmint as a gift to our declining honeybee population. Let’s go one step further and dedicate a small piece of the garden to a habitat for bees, butterflies and birds. We’re not suggesting that you re-landscape your entire yard--but is there a small corner or space where you could give our animal friends a home?

Before the New World was settled, native bees, butterflies and birds took care of pollinating all our native plants. When colonists came, they brought with them the seeds of plants that had never been part of the New World--plants such as apples and peaches, tomatoes and potatoes from South America, citrus from Africa, beans from southern Europe and so on. Native insects pollinated some of these new arrivals but it became necessary to bring over European honeybees to do a more thorough job on the fruit trees and some of the other plants. Honeybees provided a triple benefit--they did a reasonably good job pollinating, provided honey and socialized in huge numbers (colonies). All went well for a while but now the honeybees are in serious decline. Many of the fruit trees have disappeared because Silicon Valleys have erupted all over the New World, the pesticides have improved and the poison we sprayed on plants last week is killing bees this week, parasites without their controlling predators have attacked the honeybees and now an unidentified malady called Colony Collapse Disorder has reduced our honey bee population by an estimated 55%. The native bees have lost much of their habitat but since they are mostly solitary insects and require a much smaller living space, their demise is not as imminent as that of the honey bee. A honey bee colony may number 50,000 to 100,000 insects, so they need a big hollow tree or the space between the walls of a house to provide for this population. Native bees will live in a hole in the ground or in a fence post cavity. Will you consider space for some of our native bees?

Your ‘native area’ needs sunshine to grow plants which will make bees, butterflies and birds feel at home. Part of a hillside or a corner of the lot which fills with weeds will be perfect. The area will need some preparation for your plants to become established. A few will be able to survive on winter rain alone. Most will require some minimal irrigation but certainly not as much as a formal landscape. Actually, all of plants we will mention are part of a xeriscape.

Just so you’ll know what to expect from your birds, bees and butterflies following are a few words on their behaviors. All feed during daylight hours except some caterpillars (butterfly larva) which feed day and night. They may camp in your native area or they may just pass through for a snack. Some butterflies live only a few days and spend the night resting on a twig with wings folded flat, parallel to and over their back. Birds will make a nest but use it only to raise their young; after that, at night they cling to a wire or branch under the eaves of a house or other overhang. The bees live in the ground or in crevices of wood.

Following is a list of more plants than you will need to provide food for your birds (BI); bees (BE) and butterflies (BU). Ideally, you should have some for each season of the year but you can get that information from your Sunset Western Garden Book. There are many more plants but these are some of the most drought tolerant.

Shrubs: Germander (BU,BE); Butterfly bush (BE,BU); Toyon (BI, BE, BU);Pyracantha (BI, BE, BU);Cotoneaster (BI, BE, BU);Rosemary (BE,BU); Ceanothus(BE,BU).

Perennials: Yarrow (BE,BU);Gayfeather (BE,BU); Mexican Sunflower (BI, BE, BU); California Fuchsia (BE,BI); English Lavender (BE,BU); Catmint (BE,BU); Wild buckwheat (BE); Butterfly weed (BE,BU); Elegant Madia (BE,BU); Penstemon (BE,BI); Bee balm (BE,BU); Bush Monkey flower (BE,BU).

Annuals: cosmos (BI, BE, BU); coneflower (BE,BU); fleabane (BE,BU); bachelor button (BE,BU).

Our hummingbirds don’t migrate, so during winter it may be necessary for you to supplement their food supply with a hummingbird feeder. When Mr. Ed’s children were young, we had a regular hummingbird visitor with a permanently damaged leg. The boys named him ‘Chester’ (as in Gunsmoke, for those too young to remember!) and enjoyed his visits for 2 or 3 years. Water is also necessary for birds, bees and butterflies so be sure to have a bird bath or ground saucer for water. Flush it once a week to clean it out and eliminate mosquitoes.

For those of you interested in increasing the number of native bee pollinators, consider encouraging Orchard Mason Bees to nest in your garden. You can make Mason Bee nesting boxes or buy one (with 10 vacancies) from Gardens Alive, 513-354-1482, or www.GardensAlive.com.

With a little bit of preparation, you can enjoy your own little corner of the world. You will be helping preserve some of our threatened animals and providing a never-to-be-forgotten learning experience for children or grandchildren. You may even be inclined to become part of National Wildlife Federation’s Certified Wildlife Habitat program which provides homeowners with all of the information they need to a create haven a for wild animals.

Link: http://www.nwf.org/backyard/

The deciduous crape myrtle is among the longest blooming trees in existence with flowering periods lasting from 60-120 days. Crapes come in heights as short as 18 inches and as tall as 40 feet. Leaves are alternate and smooth, but leaf size depends on variety. Flowers are borne in summer in big showy clusters and come in white and many shades of pink, purple, lavender and red. Depending on variety, crapes grow as large shrubs or as trees that may be either upright or spreading. Large varieties are very fast growing and can put on several feet in a single growing season.

Many of our most popular crape myrtle varieties available for sale these days are hybrids from a series created by the U.S. National Arboretum known as the Indian Tribe group. These are noted for mildew resistance and improved hardiness and are named for native American tribes. 'Cherokee' is a shrubby variety with a loose open form and red flowers. ' Tuskegee' has a spreading form with dark pink flowers. ' Miami' blooms later in the season and also has dark pink flowers. 'Seminole, another later bloomer, has blossoms of medium pink. 'Tuscarora' is a rampant grower with orangy pink blooms, ' Potomac' is pink and 'Tonto' is very dark pink--and so on through an extensive palette. Choose plants in summer while they are blooming so you can pick just the shade of color that you are looking for.

The common name of this plant is crape myrtle, not crepe myrtle. It is called this because the flowers have crinkly petals that resemble the material called crepe (which according to Webster is a "light crinkled fabric woven of any of various fibers") but many references tell us that you're supposed to spell it crape when it's in front of myrtle.

Wegman’s has a large selection of Hanging Fuchsia Baskets, the natural hummingbird feeder! The hanging Fuchsia Baskets are full and in bloom ready to attract hummingbirds to your patio or porch. All you have to do is hang them up!

Fuchsia Baskets are easy to care for and will last many seasons. They like morning sun or all-day dappled sun. Remember to keep the basket well watered and apply light doses of Formula 49 or Bud and Bloom once a month to keep blooming and attracting those hummingbirds.

Our hot spell weather is just beginning. The summer heat brings the need to protect your plants, vegetables and fruit trees from the warmer weather. Here are some Hot Weather Helpers:

Cloud Cover
You have read about Cloud Cover in the winter for protection against frost. But in the summer Cloud Cover is also a garden essential for hot weather! Because Cloud Cover is an anti-transpirant that places a protective coating on the leaves of your fruit trees and other tender plants to keep them from losing water and protecting them from the sun and the wind.

Cloud Cover is available in quarts and gallons of concentrate and ready to use quarts.

Wilt Stop Plant Protector
Wilt Stop Plant Protector is a natural, non-toxic product, derived from the resin of pine trees, has the unique ability to form a soft, clear flexible film on treated plants. This film protects plants from drying out, drought, wind burn, sunscald, winter kill, transplant shock and salt damage. WILT STOP™ also extends life of cut flowers. It is great for year around use on deciduous trees, evergreens, shrubs, roses, transplants, vegetables, and fruit.

Soil Moist
Soil Moist has been developed to reduce the amount of water needed to maintain vigorous plants and other green goods. When mixed in the soil, the crystals will soften and swell and store over 200 times their weight in tap water. When the potting system dries, the polymer will release a steady supply of water as your plants need it. Soil Moist acts as a water reservoir, reducing the need for plant watering by 50%--even during periods of drought the stored water is released to the plant. The expansion and retraction of the polymer during the watering cycle helps soil aeration, which is important to all plants.