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GARDENING BASICS FRUIT, VEGETABLES & HERBS TREES, SHRUBS & VINES LAWN & TURF HERBACEOUS ORNAMENTALS INSECTS, DISEASES & WEEDS WILDLIFE IN
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  HOME:   WILDLIFE IN THE GARDEN:    BIRDS: GROW NATIVES
BENEFICIAL INSECTS
Helping Beneficial Insects
Lady beetles
Damsel bug
Green lacewings
Hover(syrphid) flies
Minute pirate bugs
Parasitic wasps
Predacious ground beetles
Spiders
Tachinid flies

BIRDS
Hosting songbirds in your garden
Grow natives
West Nile virus

MAMMALS
Deer
Marmots
Rabbits
Raccoons
Skunks
Voles

SNAKES
Snakes
Garter snakes
Gopher snakes
Western rattlesnakes

Hosting song birds in your yard
(c) 1992 Gary A. Monroe

According to the National Audubon Society and the National Wildlife Federation, native plants provide the best overall food sources for native wildlife and may support 10 to 50 times as many species as non-native plants. Not only are native birds adapted to native food sources, but native plants offer native wildlife both familiar nesting sites and useful cover. Another advantage: Native plants generally demand less fertilizer, water, and pest control in the landscape, since they're adapted to regional soils and climate.

Native plants are increasingly available for sale in Idaho's progressive nurseries. For information on specific species, see: