Synopses & Reviews
In her newest book for Rodale, the irrepressible Sally Roth zeroes in on one of North America's best-loved backyard birds-the hummingbird-and on the beautiful, delicate insects that are all the rage among nature enthusiasts-butterflies.
Becoming a dual hummingbird/butterfly watcher couldn't be more natural for backyard gardeners and nature lovers because both of these types of winged creatures are attracted to beautiful nectar flowers. Sally Roth is a passionate gardener, and she shares all her best recommendations on the perfect flowers to plant to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. She has even included her original garden designs especially appealing to hummingbirds and butterflies, including an herb garden for butterflies, a red-hot garden for hummingbirds, and a $10 garden for butterflies (you can plant it for less than $10). And, of course, all of Sally's advice is all-organic!
There's lots more you can do to attract and preserve butterflies and hummingbirds besides plant flowers, so Sally shares plenty of great tips and techniques for:
* Using and maintaining nectar feeders
* Setting up hummingbird misters and making butterfly mud puddles
* Attracting a wider range of butterflies by offering special foods other than nectar
* Providing nesting sites and nest materials for hummingbirds
* Understanding and observing butterfly life cycles
* Choosing and using equipment for watching and photographing butterflies and hummingbirds
Attracting Butterflies and Hummingbirds to Your Backyard includes Sally's unique field guide to identifying hummingbirds and butterflies. No stuffy scientific lingo here. Sally's writing is light and entertaining throughout her descriptions of each lovely hummingbird and butterfly, and she tells it as she sees it in describing the sometimes less-than-lovely looks of caterpillars. Sally also lists favorite nectar flowers for each type of butterfly and hummingbird.
Description
Includes index and bibliographical references (p. ).
About the Author
A lifelong naturalist and gardener, Sally Roth is the author of the highly successful
The Backyard Birdfeeder's Bible and
Attracting Birds to Your Backyard. Her other previous books include
Natural Landscaping and
Taylor's Guide to Ornamental Grasses, and her articles have appeared in many gardening magazines. She frequently lectures and leads workshops on bird watching, natural history, gardening, and native plants. Sally also writes a weekly newspaper column about nature that appears in several Indiana newspapers.
Sally was born and raised in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. After living for a brief time on the Oregon coast, she settled in New Harmony, Indiana, in 1992. Sally is entirely self-educated in gardening and natural history. When she isn't out walking in the woods, looking at birds, or digging in the dirt, Sally listens to blues and folk music, reads a lot, and plays cutthroat Scrabble. She is involved in research projects about ants, beavers, cat predation of songbirds, and backyard diversity.