A Native Garden Attracts Many Migratory Birds

There are four requirements to attract wildlife to a garden: food, water, shelter, and a place to raise their young. Over the past few years we have added quite a few native plants to our garden. Some of them surround our small pond, making it not only a focal point in our backyard, but also a prime stopover location for migratory birds. Even though we have a bird bath, many birds seem to prefer running water to quench their thirst.
During the past few weeks we have spotted the following visitors in our garden: a male scarlet tanager, a Tennessee warbler, an immature male Cape May warbler, two yellow-rumped warblers, and probably a first-year white-crowned sparrow.

By adding water - be it a fountain or mister - you too might view some exciting migratory birds in your yard.

Water Lily

Yesterday, I photographed a local garden for an assignment. I was particularly attracted to the pond with its big pink lilies. While we have recently installed a pond in our yard and have put in two lily pots, they are nowhere near as big as these beauties were. Needless to say, I took almost more photos of the lilies than I took for the assignment.

New Addition to Our Backyard

For years we have been talking about how nice it would be to have a pond in our backyard. Finally, we decided to turn our dream into a reality. Of course, when our contractor could fit us in it was a bit late to find a good selection of pond plants locally. We ended up ordering submerged plants and a water lily by mail because we wanted to buy native plants. That way we won't have to worry whether our plants will survive the winter.