It's easy to love butterflies. But for many gardeners, attracting these beautiful pollinators is where the infatuation with insects begins and ends. Invite carrion beetles and assassin bugs to a flower border or vegetable patch? Only the intrepid dare go there.
Yet there are good reasons to create a backyard buffet for these and other so-called beneficial insects (robber fly, left). They are the tigers and barracudas of the insect world, preying upon many of the organisms that ravage prized garden plants. So many homeowners have pest problems largely because their yards are not inviting to the predators and parasites that in natural ecosystems keep pesky creatures in check.
Although a number of biological pest controls—the fancy term for beneficial insects—are sold at local nurseries and mail-order suppliers, the most effective way to entice predators to patrol your yard is to grow their favorite flowers. Winter, when you’re perusing the pages of nursery catalogs and dreaming of spring, is a great time to look for the blooms these creatures love best: asters, coneflowers and other daisylike native wildflowers, as well as popular culinary herbs such as dill and parsley that produce inverted parasol-shaped inflorescences. Read the entire article.
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Lover of God, nature, wildlife, birds, gardening, photography, travel, simple living, health, pets and seeking a peaceful, healing lifestyle. Life has many hurts and sorrows but within "the [divine] nature in us" we CAN overcome.
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