The Garden Guy’s Favorites For Southern Garden Wildlife

Planting season is here and we all have a lot of wants like fragrance, tough and persevering, able to help with erosion and being a benefit to bees, birds and butterflies. That’s a tall order but believe it or not, there is a group, call them the A-Team or All-Stars that will do almost everything you wish. They each have that strong native DNA running through and through.

Virginia sweetspire - Itea virginica or Virginia sweetspire is a good place to start. Proven Winners offers three varieties of Fizzy Mizzy^® sweet spire, Itea virginica, Little Henry^® Sweetspire, Itea virginica and Scentlandia^® Sweetspire, Itea virginica, all about the same height, each boasting fragrant blooms attracting pollinators. They are thicket-forming, making them great for erosion, rain gardens, dry creeks that occasionally flow, and a long-lasting fall of bronze-red leaf color.

Buttonbush - Next is Cephalanthus occidentalis or buttonbush. In the wild, these are often found growing on the water's edge and are huge. Sugar Shack^® Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis has changed all of that. The exotic-looking fragrant flowers are born all summer on a 4-5 feet tall plant. It too forms a thicket all the while bringing in bees and butterflies to the nectar. If grown at the water’s edge, the seeds that form may feed visiting waterfowl.

Summersweet—No plant brings more joy to the Southeast than the Clethra alnifolia or commonly called summer sweet. You just want to hang around and enjoy the aroma. You’ve got two great choices: the compact Sugartina^® 'Crystalina' Summersweet, Clethra alnifolia and the taller Vanilla Spice^® Summersweet, Clethra alnifolia. Summersweet forms thickets in moist soil or rain gardens and is a bee and butterfly magnet.

Winterberry hollies - Proven Winners has become the home of the Ilex verticillata or winterberry holly. Red berries like Berry Heavy^® Winterberry Holly, Ilex verticillata and Berry Poppins^® Winterberry, Ilex verticillata are favorites. Winterberry hollies are dioecious meaning female plants bear berries and therefore you will need Mr. Poppins^® Winterberry, Ilex verticillata. Hollies are also thicket-forming in moist locations.

Luscious Lantanas The champions for butterflies and hummingbirds at The Garden Guy’s house are the Luscious, lantanas. I was in zone 8a but recently moved to zone 8b. I am entering my 5th year with the orange Luscious^® Marmalade, Lantana camara, yellow Luscious^® Citron^™, Lantana hybrid, gold Luscious^® Goldengate^™ Lantana camara, multicolored Luscious^® Citrus Blend^™, Lantana camara and Luscious^® Royale Cosmo, Luscious^® Royale Cosmo, Lantana camara. I have not lost one yet to winter even though rated to zone 9. Some are in heavy soil on a slope, some whose soil looks like it came from another planet and some in rocks and gravel. These are all award winners and the best in the market.

Rockin'^® Salvias - Likewise, Rockin'^® salvias are rated zone 9 but I am in my 4th to 5th year depending on the release date. I am growing Rockin'^® Deep Purple, Blue Suede Shoes, and Fuchsia which are similar. All have survived temperatures in the low teens and clumps now approaching 3 feet. Blooms are irresistible to hummingbirds and most larger butterflies.