Growing vegetation purposely for backyard visitors

[kristina]

I love what you are doing.

I live in the desert so a water source is the most important thing here. I keep a bird bath and a dish in the front yard. It's important to put rocks in them because the little baby quail or lizards and some insects will drown otherwise. I have a tiny pond in the back yard that the javelinas started by dumping the water dish and rooting around in the ground, and I have continued to build that up as a water source. There are zillions of tadpoles in it at the moment, and I cook spinach for them. The bees love all the water sources and I can go out and "hang" with them. I love their gentle energy. There are flowering cactus and they especially love the palo verde trees' flowers in spring. 

Beyond water, I feed the bunnies, mule deer, and javies when they come around with carrots and apples and potatoes, and whatever appropriate veggie scraps I have. There are ground and rock squirrels too. The mule deer are special friends and I have known the matriarch for 10 years. I also feed the birds with seed.

I have the same plan to create more natural sources of food. Berry bushes like you have, and maybe millet for the birds, and plant some fruiting trees. I just haven't gotten to that yet.

I think you can make a home for the bees with tubing like bamboo. Here is a video on it:

Hi Diana....I forgot about this thread LOL!
I just made a little bee hotel...like a few days ago. How awesome! Guess what???? Honey bees took it.
I planted Sulfur Cosmos and they are coming up for my little butterfly buddies.