1 Purple passionflower
PASSIFLORA INCARNATA, ZONES 5 TO 9
Hummingbirds love the passionflower's intricate blooms, while butterflies flock to the vine as it is a larval host plant. Gardeners in the northern portion of its hardiness zones may not see fully formed fruit on this plant. It's a native perennial that's drought tolerant and grows in full sun or part shade.
Why we love it:
The intricate blossoms can be cut and placed in small vases.
2 Clematis
CLEMATIS SPP., ZONES 3 TO 9
This cold-hardy vine is available in a wide range of colors. Different clematises bloom anytime from spring to frost, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. These vines need "warm heads and cool feet" in the form of full sun in moist, well-draining soil that has been mulched or underplanted with other perennials.
Why we love it:
Equally attractive are the large, fluffy seed heads, which develop on some vines in fall and remain well into winter.
3 Bougainvillea
BOUGAINVILLEA SPP., ZONES 9 TO 11, ANNUAL ELSEWHERE
Bougainvillea produces masses of neon-bright, papery thin "flowers," which are actually colorful bracts. The true flowers are small and white, and are nestled within. This sun-loving, drought-tolerant plant needs acidic soil. In the South, bougainvillea can get quite large when trained up the side of a house.
Why we love it:
Though popular as a vine, it also functions as a shrub or a container plant.
4 Coral honeysuckle
LONICERA SEMPERVIRENS, ZONES 4 TO 9
This story is from the June/July 2024 edition of Birds & Blooms.
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This story is from the June/July 2024 edition of Birds & Blooms.
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Sense or Nonsense? - Why some birds can taste and smell - but others can't
Does a porcelain berry taste like a blueberry to a gray catbird? Does a block of lard smell like frying bacon to a northern flicker? The short answer is no. While some avian species do have a well-adapted sense of taste or smell, they can't distinguish between flavors and odors the way humans can. They're not picking up every ingredient in the suet you put out, says José Ramírez-Garofalo, an ornithology researcher at Rutgers University in New Jersey and the director of Freshkills Biological Station in Staten Island, New York.
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Even if you haven't heard of Canada jays, you've heard of their relatives. Members of the corvid family, they belong to the same group as American crows, blackbilled magpies, and jays including blue, Steller's and scrub. "Unlike many of the other jays, a Canada jay doesn't have a crest of any kind; it just has a rounded head," says Dale Gentry, director of conservation for Audubon Upper Mississippi River.In 2018, the Canada jay's name was changed from gray jay, but Dale thinks the former adjective was fitting. "Most of its body is shades of gray with some white," he says. "There are different subspecies that have different physical traits, but most of them have some lighter coloring on their foreheads, upper breasts and throats, each with a darker streak that starts at each eye and goes back."
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