Wildlife garden instead of lawn
On Labor Day we spent the afternoon with my husband’s family in southwest Austin. My in-laws have a lovely native-plant garden designed to attract wildlife by providing food for butterfly larvae (i.e. caterpillars), nectaring plants for butterflies and bees, berrying plants for birds, and sheltering layers of foliage in lieu of a lawn. Regular readers may remember my in-law’s garden from last spring.
A late-summer visit shows the Turk’s cap (Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii) are stealing the show. Although usually thought of as a flowering shade plant, Turk’s cap does well in sun too, as the blooms on this one attest.
Attracting wildlife in your garden means accepting a few pests as well, like this plant-munching grasshopper, which leaped into the rock rose (Pavonia lasiopetala) as I walked by. Maybe it’ll become a tasty meal for a bird.
Pink Autumn sage (Salvia greggii) was revving up for its fall show.
Butterflies swarmed around the confetti-colored blooms of lantana.
Under a sprawling live oak, American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) tempted mockingbirds with a profusion of purple fruit.
Their cedar-post coyote fence shields their work and storage area from view. I believe that’s a Chinese pistache (Pistacia chinensis) tree in front, planted before its invasiveness in Austin was widely known.
Mariachi frogs keep the mood light.
I always enjoy seeing what’s going on in their wildlife-friendly garden. I hope you enjoyed it too.
All material © 2006-2010 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
What a great garden your in-laws have. They must get a lot of enjoyment out of it. I’d love to grow beauty berry here, but I can’t really think where I could put it, since it does love to spread out so. Love those mariachi frogs – too cute!
I love their garden, and your photos give us a new, close-up perspective. Looks like it was a lovely day.
You bet I like to see this. It is my kind of garden. Love the frogs too.
I like the photo of the turks caps! I think I’m the only one with the full sized one, which is about head height right now and not flowering yet. I’ll be sure to share some pics!
LOVE THOSE FROGS. Great photo of the grasshopper.
Great garden! I’m already on the Wildlife bandwagon…full support for the cause.
And how about those FROGS! They crack me up. Wish I had some here in my garden.
David/ Tropical Texana 🙂
Hi Pam.
It looks like that new camera is beginning to shine for you. Great pictures, and that grasshopper is a beauty, as is the cobwebbed Mariachi frog.
ESP.
I really like the Turks Cap. Will put that on my wish list. Great frogs, cute.
Their garden looks great!
those frogs are hilarious.
Great shots Pam. Love that red bench. 🙂
What a great bunch of shots Pam! Terrific yard and I love the frogs!
What a great garden! I was admiring it happily, but went into delighted overdrive at the mariachi frogs. They are hilarious and fun, just the sort of curiosity I plunk in my garden from time to time.
Wow, that camera is working out great Pam. The picture of the grasshopper was great as all of the others were as well.
They certainly have a beautiful garden and you certainly showed it off well.
Pam, Love this garden. And you’re right; we take the bad bugs with the good when we garden for wildlife. gail
Lovely…especially love the beautyberry!
That munching pest looks awfully familiar, I have them here in spades! With all the cornfields, soybeans and wheat growing here in central Ohio, I’m sure they have lots to eat. I feel like the Buckeye should be our state butterfly, but I see they like Texas too. Thanks for sharing your inlaws garden, it’s lovely!
Great grasshopper! I say the same thing to our swarming hoppers…”I hope you feed a bird today.” We have a lot of the same plants and the migrating hummingbirds are loving our Turk’s Cap.
Hi Pam, I am so impressed with your inlaws garden! Did you design it? (Sorry if you have mentioned that before, I am way behind in blog reading.) The beautyberry was planted here last year and did not survive, though it should have. Seeing them grown so well here reminds me that we need to try again. You are rockin’ the new camera! 🙂
Frances