Want to attract more birds and butterflies in your garden? Native plants can help

According to Jan Sorensen, the native plant expert at Wasco Nursery, "Grassland birds are disappearing because there is not enough expanse of native prairie." Native species are generally defined as species that existed before pioneers influenced the land and brought foreign plants and animals to new areas. Non-native plants can come into an ecosystem and drive out the native plants that formerly existed there. One reason is because non-native plants have the potential to become a favored pollen source for insects, which, according to Brown in Ecology, can negatively affect native plants because they are not getting the proper nutrients or pollination. This can become even more of a problem if animals in that area (birds, rabbits, etc.) depend on native plants as their main food source. This is especially true if non-native plants become invasive, meaning they outcompete and take over the habitat of native plants.

I have been doing research in St. Charles on the native plant species and community preferences for garden plants. To begin my research, I provided 47 St. Charles community members with a survey to determine their preferences when choosing plants for their gardens. The results showed that appearance, flowering season, cost, and size were all rated as significantly more important than the native location of the species. Only 32 percent of respondents knew the benefits of native plant species, although the number of respondents to the survey was low.

There are many benefits to having native plants in your garden to maintain the native biodiversity of both plants and animals. In Conservation Biology, Burghardt found that native plants lead to more biodiversity and attract more native birds and butterflies. Because native species are adapted to the local environment, they require less water, pruning, pesticides, and fertilizers compared to non-native species. In fact, after the first year of planting, there is very little maintenance at all. In a study published in Landscape and Urban Planning, Helfand found that people presented with a variety of garden types usually chose the native garden after comparing its maintenance cost and appearance to the non-native garden - even though it had a higher initial cost. As Helfand discussed, native plants survive at a higher rate than non-native plants so the long term cost may be actually be less. They are also food sources for native animals, and they do not spread too much and do not take over gardens like invasive species, such as Queen Anne's lace or garlic mustard.

How can you help? Try to include at least a few native plants in your own garden. Talk to your local nursery about purchasing a native plant that might replace a non-native plant you are considering. Sorensen even presents the idea to "Throw in a little bit of everything and see what comes up in your garden. The ones that take will thrive." Another idea of hers is to keep at least some of your leaves through the winter, as they provide habitats for snails and larvae - which eventually become food for birds. Sorensen also shares that Monarch butterflies have an attraction to the popular plant prairie blazing star, and combining this with milkweed is a good way to attract caterpillars and butterflies to your garden.

If you want to see local native plants in their natural environment, take advantage of our local park district. There is a Native Demonstration Garden behind the main building at Pottawatomie Park that shows hundreds of native plants. There are also numerous parks in the area with natives on display (see map below or at https://goo.gl/eKzphN). If you are interested in some rare native species in the area, check out this website that highlights these in our home town: https://goo.gl/FRsnvl. One of the largest threats to native plants are invasive plants, such as Queen Anne's lace or garlic mustard. Try to rid your yard of these plants. The St. Charles Park District offers volunteer days every Saturday to help restore native biodiversity and educate the public on the benefits of native plants. Take advantage of these days and learn a little bit about the native habitat that we built our town upon.