birds

Monarch butterfly on butterfly bush (image by Denise Pierce).

There goes my daughter, Maya, helping her "papa" (grandpa) feed the birds again. It's a very important job for her when she goes over to visit – scooping the bird seed from the big plastic bins in his garage and carefully pouring it into one of the many bird feeders hanging from his front tree like so much ripe fruit.

Now 4 years old, Maya has been doing this as long as she's been able to walk. And her love of Papa's birds has only grown through the years, as we've made peanut butter-and-birdseed pinecone feeders every winter and later on in the season, watched the hummingbirds and other feathered friends visit plants like our Tropicanna cannas, Volcano phlox, Sun Parasol mandevillas and Blue Storm agapanthus.

(Back row, from left): purple-tinged, dark green-leaved plectranthus, Tropicanna Gold cannas, Tropicanna Black cannas, Sun Parasol mandevillas. (Front row, from left): ornamental peppers, thread-leaved croton, lime green heuchera.

Blue Storm agapanthus in a container on my deck

Volcano phlox (Red) near my deck 

Last year, Maya fell in love with butterflies, too, after a visit to the Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden at Rochester, NY's National Museum of Play. After that, we always noticed butterflies hovering around our Volcano phlox, black-eyed Susans, bee balm, Blue Storm agapanthus, coreopsis, stonecrop and chocolate eupatorium (Joe Pye weed).

Of course, we've never been able to get a shot of these winged friends in action – hence my borrowed pic of a butterfly (above) from one of Tesselaar's regional garden bloggers, Denise Pierce of Red Bay, Alabama. 

This year, Maya definitely wants more plants that will attract birds and butterflies in the garden, and of course I’m inclined to buy a full-grown plant from the garden center. But she seems to want to start everything from seed (sigh) –even these dying, leggy sunflowers she insisted on sowing in pots in the middle of winter, so the birds would have seeds to eat. (I told her sunflowers should be direct-sown into the ground later in the season, but she was so excited about gardening, I couldn't crush her spirits):

Leggy sunflower seeds sown indoors in pots

Now she wants to try this butterfly bush kit (lower right, $9.99 from Wegmans):

Butterfly bush garden kit for kids (Wegmans, $9.99)

I’ve never started a butterfly bush from seed, but I’m sure it’ll be interesting.

Speaking of butterflies, Maya also went bonkers over an Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden butterfly hatching kit she saw at Lowe's ($13.95 through Amazon). I don't know about this – little kids and fragile, live creatures just don't seem to be a good mix. Plus, I found out that the kit basically just includes a netted cage and a coupon in you send in to get the live caterpillars and food. I guess that makes sense, because you can't keep caterpillars alive in a box, but still – one more step? Ugh).

Maybe when Maya's older, we'll try to grow some milkweed, since that's what the Monarch butterfly caterpillars eat (I understand the milky white sap is poisonous, so I think I'd like to wait a few years on that one).

Regardless, I've learned that gardening is a great way to keep kids active and connected to their environment, and as with everything else, there's a fine line to walk between ensuring success and fostering independence. So I've gotta roll with what my daughter likes – right now, it's birds and butterflies – and let her call some shots and pick out and sow some plants, so she sort of "owns" the experience. I've also learned to let her experiment, even if it means dead plants on the windowsill. I think I'm just not ready for dead butterflies yet!

Maya sowing her sunflower seeds for the birdies

So tell me – what are some of your favorite bird- and butterfly-friendly plants that can encourage kids to get out in the garden? Post a comment and lemme know!

So what if this month’s not the busiest in the garden? There’s still plenty to do around your home and yard.

Take care of indoor plants

Ease up on the watering and fertilization of your houseplants. But, if you stick your finger a half-inch into the soil and if it comes out dry, go get the pitcher. Watering plants is a great way for kids and grandkids to help around the house and build self-confidence – (my 2 ½-year-old daughter, right, is very proud of her role as Houseplant Helper). Move faded or sickly-looking ones in north-facing windows to east- or west-facing ones, and those in east- or west-facing windows to south-facing ones.

Create winter interest - feed the birds

For great reading on this, check out the Feb. 13, 2009 North Coast Gardening blog “The Winter-Interest Secret Most Gardeners Forget: or How to Attract Birds” (at http://www.northcoastgardening.com).

Decorate your home and yard – safely

Celebrate the season with safety in mind, with these tips from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:

• Only buy artificial trees labeled “fire resistant.”
• If buying a live tree, make sure it’s fresh (needles don’t pull off; branches don’t break) and keep it well-watered and away from heat sources.
• Keep any small or breakable ornaments away from kids.
• Never use holiday lights on a metallic tree or near power or feeder lines from utility poles.
• Turn off all holiday lights before you go to bed or leave the house. Use no more than three standard-size sets of lights per single extension cord, and make sure the cord is rated for the intended use.
• Outdoor electric lights and decorations should be certified for outdoor use, hung only with insulated staples or hooks and should be plugged into circuits protected by ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs).
• Consider replacing candles with LED flameless ones.

Keep an eye on that garden

Since I live in Zone 6a, that means looking out the kitchen window at my snow-covered landscape and thumbing through the garden catalogs.

Those of you in warmer regions, however, can find fantastic regional gardening tips for December in a recent post by About.com gardening blogger Marie Iannotti (at http://gardening.about.com) suggests region-specific tasks that include protecting tender plants with row covers or homemade cloches like milk jugs and soda bottles, feeding winter-flowering shrubs, cutting back ornamental grasses, planting trees and shrubs, starting seeds for cool-season flowers and vegetables, planting bare root roses and adding compost and manure to planting beds to get them ready for spring.