Who this garden brings back
Because smknigh planted these, these named species have a place here.
Monarch ButterflyEndangeredButterfly
A Monarch can only raise its young on milkweed. No milkweed, no Monarchs. It's that simple, and that fixable.
Little Brown BatEndangeredBat
Disease wiped out most of them. A single bat eats thousands of insects a night, the ones night-blooming natives raise.
Eastern MeadowlarkThreatenedBird
A grassland bird losing its grasslands. Native bunchgrasses bring back the insects and cover it needs.
BobolinkThreatenedBird
A bubbling song of summer meadows, now threatened. Native grasses rebuild the habitat it raises its young in.
Olive-sided FlycatcherThreatenedBird
It perches on tall spruces and sallies out to catch flying insects. Native blooms keep its prey in the air.
Bank SwallowThreatenedBird
It feeds entirely on flying insects. Every native flowering patch is more food in the air it hunts.
Common NighthawkThreatenedBird
Its dusk call is going quiet. It hunts the night-flying moths that evening-primrose and milkweed raise.
Chimney SwiftThreatenedBird
It catches every meal on the wing. Native plants sustain the insects it lives on.
Eastern Whip-poor-willThreatenedBird
Named for its haunting call, now seldom heard. It depends on the large moths native plants raise.
Barn SwallowThreatenedBird
A bird that once nested on every farm, now threatened. Native plants feed the flying insects it catches on the wing.
Yellow-banded Bumble BeeSpecial concernBee
A once-common bumble bee in decline. Beebalm and columbine are among its favourites.
American Bumble BeeSpecial concernBee
It needs goldenrod and asters to fatten up before winter. The late-summer blooms most gardens are missing.
Eastern Wood-PeweeSpecial concernBird
Its slow 'pee-a-wee' call is heard less each year. It needs the flying insects native plants support.
Transverse Lady BeetleSpecial concernBeetle
Our native ladybugs are being pushed out. Native plants give them aphids to hunt and cover to overwinter.
Black SwallowtailSpecialistButterfly
It raises its young only on plants in the carrot family. Golden Alexanders is its native one.
Photos: Photo by Derek Ramsey, GFDL 1.2 · Photo by Marvin Moriarty/USFWS, public domain · Photo by Ken Thomas, public domain · Photo by Paul Engel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo by Mike's Birds, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Photo by John, CC BY 2.0 · Photo by Greg Schechter, CC BY 2.0 · Photo by Andrew C, CC BY 2.0 · Photo by Dominic Sherony, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Photo by Malene Thyssen, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo by USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab, public domain · Photo by Judy Gallagher, CC BY 2.0 · Photo by Dan Pancamo, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Photo by Hectonichus, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo by D. Gordon E. Robertson, CC BY-SA 3.0
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