To: Salisbury Post Garden Column

From: Darrell Blackwelder

Re:Garden Column by Master Gardener-Jean Lamb

 As development takes its toll on the fields and woodlands of
the Piedmont, our own suburban yards can be a haven for wildlife.
Our native birds and butterflies will benefit from
native plants and trees that we save from the chain saw or that
we plant in our backyard.
   A yard that welcomes birds and butterflies has a diversity
of plant material that provides shelter and food.  Tall deciduous
trees, such as oaks and poplars, are extremely valuable for
birds such as warblers and orioles.  Evergreen trees provide
cover in winter and hidden nesting spots in summer.  Red cedars,
American hollies, and wax myrtles provide food as
well as protection from winter winds.
   A suburban family that I knew had a cedar tree close enought
o their bedroom window that their children could watch the large
barred owl that roosted there every night before they went to
bed.  The next family that lived in the house cut down every
large tree in the yard.  Without the shelter of the trees the owl
moved on.
 Butterfly larvae are host specific, meaning that they will
not survive unless certain plants are available for the
caterpillars to eat.  For example, the zebra swallowtail larvae
require the paw­paw tree to grow and mature into the beautiful
black and white striped adults.  The eastern tiger swallowtail
larvae will eat wild cherry, poplar, beech, sweet bay magnolia,
sassafras, or ash.  These are all native trees that grow in our
area but are depleted by development and seldom replanted.
  Those of us who are gardeners are often guilty of
destroying native plants because we want room to grow greener
grass or roses or the newest hybrid begonia.  These plants are
beautiful but they do not provide a habitat for native birds and
butterflies.  Native plants are better adapted to our climate and
will survive during droughts. According to the National Wildlife
Federation, local native plants support 10­50 times as many
species of wildlife as non­native.
 The first butterfly I saw in March was a mourning cloak.  It
had spent the winter in the woods with its maroon and cream wings
folded so it was camouflaged to look like tree bark.
It had a good hiding place in the wooded area behind my house and
had survived to mate and lay eggs which will hatch into
caterpillars.
  Some of these caterpillars will survive to make a chrysalis
and some of them will become the next generation of adults.  My
yard is not Martha Stewart perfect but I feel like I have
succeeded in sheltering another generation of beautiful
butterflies.
 Books on birds and butterflies at the Rowan Public Library
include the following: The Birds around Us, Attracting Birds to
Southern Gardens, Butterfly Gardening, and Butterfly
Gardening for the South. The National Wildlife Federation has a
website at www.nwf.org with specific information on creating a
backyard habitat for wildlife.

Jean Lamb is a Master Gardener Volunteer with the Rowan County
Master Gardener Association.