Edibles To Sustain the Bs Over Winter

Among the most timeless, natural sounds in the garden are the chirp and warble of birds and the gentle hum of fuzzy, plump honeybees. Add to that the dipping and swooping flights of butterflies, and you have a garden full of life and motion.

It’s easy enough to plant a few nectar plants to encourage those three Bs—birds, bees and butterflies—to visit during spring and summer. It takes more thought to create a space to entice and sustain them all year.

But view the world from their winged perspectives, and you’ll begin to understand their three basic needs: food, shelter and water.

Food

California native plants top the list, since you’re encouraging native wildlife. However, a number of shrubs, perennials and herbs from other Mediterranean regions provide forage as well.

During the lean months of fall and winter, many birds harvest plants that have gone to seed. In my garden, a sure sign of the changing seasons is the arrival of goldfinches, which cheerfully flit about, cleaning up long strands of spent blue flowers on my germander sage (Salvia chamaedryoides). Other seed-bearers include coreopsis, blanket flower (Gaillardia grandiflora), sunflower (Helianthus), native grasses, ornamental grasses, other sages and fennel.

Larger birds tend to gravitate toward berries. I’ve watched many a beefy cedar waxwing spend an afternoon devouring scarlet pyracantha berries. Also appealing are the bright red berries on toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), cotoneaster and holly, as well as the brilliant yellow and dark blue berries on barberry (Berberis).

During cooler weather, honeybees slow down and generally remain in their hives, forming a tight ball around their queens to keep her warm and feeding on honey that they’ve stored. Most other species of bees die off in the fall, with the exception of their queens, which hibernate underground, in wood piles or beneath rocks.

Come spring, all bees begin to rejuvenate their colonies and resume their quests for pollen and nectar. They will stick around for their entire life cycle if you provide a progression of blooms. Start with spring-flowering fruit trees, such as apples, plums, peaches and apricots; native shrubs such as manzanita (Arctostaphylos) and wild lilac (Ceanothus), and as many California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) as you can fit.

In summer, the bees will hone in on your roses, coreopsis, red buckwheat (Eriogonum grande var. rubescens), sunflower and long-blooming, aromatic perennial herbs, such as borage, bee balm (Monarda), lavender, catmint (Nepeta), mint, rosemary, sage, germander (Teucrium chamaedrys) and thyme. Plant some of those herbs among your cucumbers, melons and squash, and you’ll enhance pollination.

In fall, provide one last hit with asters and coneflowers (Echinacea).

Butterflies are not as active during cooler months, either. Indeed, most adult butterflies live only a few weeks. They spend most of their lives as eggs and larvae, attached to host plants.

Wild lilacs are home to caterpillars that morph into pale swallowtail butterflies, ceanothus silkmoths, brown elfins and spring azures. Our native stonecrop (Dudleya), common buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum), silver bush lupine (Lupinus albifrons) and monkey flower (Mimulus) are popular hosts as well.

The ferny foliage of dill, parsley and fennel offers safe haven for anise swallowtail eggs. And milkweed—both the weed and the ornamental Asclepias curassavica—is a favored host for bold and beautiful monarch caterpillars.

Once the caterpillars turn into butterflies, their palate expands and they sup nectar from many of the same flowers that sustain bees. However, since butterflies can’t hover for long, they gravitate toward plants that bear masses of daisy-like or flat-topped flowers. Good bets are asters, coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis), coreopsis, sulfur buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum), heliotrope, lantana, coyote mint (Monardella villosa), statice (Limonium perezii), passion vine (Passiflora) and verbena.

Shelter

Before and after they’ve stuffed their bellies, birds need a place to perch, rest, sun themselves, look for prey and avoid predators.

Our tall, native oaks and sycamores offer lookouts for soaring hawks, cavities for owls to nest and branches for woodpeckers to cache their acorns.

In smaller gardens, a stand of manzanita (Arctostaphylos), coyote brush, wild lilac, juniper or heavenly bamboo (Nandina) may provide enough cover. Native grasses will supply nesting material.

The same sort of mixed heights and densities provides protection from wind for adult butterflies.

Dark nooks and crannies, and bare dirt, are favored by bees. Honeybees often nest in tree cavities, unprotected chimneys or block walls, while native bees commonly nest in the ground. The females dig shallow tunnels, then create a series of cells, depositing a single egg, pollen and nectar into each.

Water

In the wild, birds bathe and drink in puddles. Bird baths look much the same, with flat bottoms and gently sloping slides. Or you can use an upside-down trash can lid or terra cotta saucer. Locate the bath close to a perch—shrub, tree or post—that will support the weight of a bird but not that of a cat. Change the water every few days to deter mosquitoes. Birds don’t like splashing about in stagnant water, either.

Butterflies and bees like puddles, too, but don’t need the same depth as birds. Instead, set out a terra cotta saucer filled with gravel and water, and top if off every few days during warmer weather.

Protect Your Wildlife

When setting up an edible garden for birds, bees and butterflies, avoid spraying pesticides, insecticides or anything else that might harm them. Fortunately, it’s not likely that you’ll be tempted. A garden filled with diverse plantings, a progression of blooms and a year-round coalition of winged friends will keep pests in check and help create a balanced environment.