Buena Creek Gardens

San Diego's finest selection of new and uncommon flowering plants

Birds and Butterflies in the Garden - part one of a two-part series
by Steve Brigham

June 2005 marks the official Grand Opening of our new Bird and Butterfly Garden at Buena Creek Gardens. This half-acre garden features over 600 different kinds of plants that attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and other birds, and although it was planted just a few months ago, the plants in it are already huge. The design of this garden pretty much reflects the taste of its designer (that’s me) in that there is a great diversity of uncommon plants that grow quickly and produce lots of pretty flowers without needing a lot of water or maintenance. Most importantly, however, the garden reflects the tastes of birds and butterflies – and it is already home to a great variety of winged friends, some of whom are permanent residents and some of whom are just visiting for a while.

Would you like to attract more birds and butterflies to your garden? This month and next month, this column will take a look at what birds and butterflies really like, and which plants they like the best.

What Do Birds and Butterflies Want?

When it comes to observing the natural world, in the immortal words of Yogi Berra, “you can observe a lot just by watching!” And watching is what our new garden is all about. Time spent watching what birds and butterflies do can tell you a lot about what they like.

Although birds and butterflies are obviously very different from us, we all want these same basic things: a nice place to live and maybe raise a family, and good food to eat. Birds and butterflies depend on plants for these things, and if you plant plants that they can use, they will be happy to live in your garden.

Habitat For Birds

Everyone likes a nice place to live. Most birds spend much of their time resting in shrubs or trees that give them shelter and protection against predators. But when it’s time to go to work, a prominent branch with a good view can be most handy for proclaiming or defending their territories – and you’ll notice that each bird has its favorite branches. Then there’s the annual nesting project, again with individual birds having their own rather specific preferences of where to rest.

In our garden, plants are planted close together to make a thicket that gives plenty or hiding places for birds large and small. The perimeter of the garden in particular is a mixed planting of shrubs that provide plenty of shelter and protection. One particular thicket of Podranea ricasoliana, Cassia bicapsularis, and Rosa ‘Kathleen’ is home to dozens of California Quail every afternoon. We call them the “Buena Creek Air Force.” Every day around 2:30 PM they fly in from the chaparral in one big group, and sleep in this protective thicket every night.

For birds “on the job,” the right type of plant can make a big difference. At the entrance to our new garden is a 25¢ tall Tabebuia ‘Raspberry’. Although I like it for its flowers, a number of birds like it for its branches. Every year just in time for mating season this tree loses all of its leaves and becomes a marvelous perching and lookout tree with a great view of the surrounding area. It is the perfect tree for the mating and territorial activities of hummingbirds because the twigs are just the right size for their tiny little feet! Other good perches for birds are dead twigs and branches, which is why the birds like it when you just let your plants grow naturally and give your pruning shears a rest.

Nice Places For Nests

Every type of bird has its own specific preferences on where to build a nest. Very near our new garden, the top of a towering Corymbia (Eucalyptus) maculata is home to the permanent nest of our Red-tailed Hawks. These are our largest birds, who spend much of their daytime way up in the sky and like to nest and sleep atop the tallest trees they can find. On the other end of the size scale, the tiny Anna’s hummingbirds always nest about six feet off the ground in shrubs or vines. I have seen their nests in dozens of different kinds of plants, but the smart ones seem to prefer nesting under big leaves which give them protection from the rain. The colorful Hooded Orioles are even more careful in this regard, often attaching their hanging woven-fiber nests to the undersides of large fan palm leaves, which guarantees that their nests will stay dry.

From tall trees to thickety shrubs and even palms, the more diversity of plants you have in your garden, the more kinds of birds you’ll attract. Having a nice place to live is mighty important for all of us. In part two, we’ll talk about food.