Making Gardens for Insects & Other Animals

What if your garden could be more than beautiful? What if it could become a thriving sanctuary for butterflies, pollinators, songbirds, and the wildlife that makes a healthy ecosystem possible?

This practical and inspiring guide shows you how to create a wildlife-friendly garden that supports nature while remaining beautiful, inviting, and enjoyable to maintain.

Discover the fascinating adaptations that make butterflies so beautiful to us, then learn how their life cycles, food sources, and habitat needs can guide the way you choose and arrange plants. From caterpillars to adult butterflies, discover how thoughtful plant choices can provide essential resources throughout every stage of a butterfly's life.

But butterflies are only the beginning.

Explore how readily available plants can become the foundation of a healthy garden food web in northeast Kansas, supporting insects that provide vital food for songbirds and other wildlife. Learn how to create a pesticide-free landscape by encouraging beneficial insects and choosing plants that naturally attract the creatures your garden needs.

Whether you're creating a new pollinator garden, improving an existing landscape, or simply looking for ways to bring more life to your yard, this handbook gives you practical ideas you can put to work right away.

Inside, you'll discover:

• Pollinator-friendly plant lists to help you choose the right plants for your garden

• Butterfly host plants that support butterflies throughout their life cycles

• Plants that attract beneficial and predatory insects

• Top beneficial plants readily available at local nurseries

• Color photographs to inspire your garden choices

• Wildlife garden designs for different styles, spaces, and garden sizes

• Simple ways to convert an existing landscape into a wildlife-friendly habitat

• Practical strategies for gardening without pesticidesKeystone plants that provide exceptional benefits to wildlife

• Easy garden-bed and container ideas for gardeners with limited space

• Ways to support songbirds, small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians

You don't need acres of land—or an expert’s knowledge—to make a difference. With the right plants and a thoughtful approach, even an ordinary landscape can become a place where butterflies flourish, beneficial insects thrive, birds find food, and wildlife has a place to call home.