Summer is primetime for wildlife appreciation. Not only are critters feeding, meeting, tweeting and breeding, but it’s also a great excuse to enjoy the warm weather outdoors.

Summer means butterflies! Consider creating a butterfly garden in a sunny spot sheltered from the wind. Size doesn’t matter; it can be an acre or a square foot. The important thing is providing plants that butterflies like. These fall into two categories: nectar plants for adults, and host plants for the caterpillars. Good nectar plants include most any flat flower like asters, daisies, black-eyed susans, joe-pye-weed, sunflowers and coneflowers. They also love butterfly bush, mints, clethra and elderberry. Caterpillars feed on milkweed, dill, parsley, cherry, violets, lupines, clover and grasses.

It’s a common misperception that bluebirds won’t live in suburbia. This just isn’t true - as long as their needs are provided for. First and foremost is the nestbox. Most any commercially made bluebird box will do, but placement is critical. For best success, put the box where it is visible to you, where it gets some shade at midday, in a fairly open area (at least 50 feet of space all around). Not only will you enjoy hosting your own “bluebirds of happiness”, you will be helping to support a native creature that has suffered greatly from habitat loss and competition from non-native species.The garden jewels of late summer are the ornamental grasses. Their delicate flowers and graceful forms are not only pleasing to the human eye, but also to the eyes of our wild neighbors. Ornamental grasses provide food for some caterpillars, plus other insects that attract birds like bluebirds. Their hollow stems provide shelter over winter for tiny critters, while larger animals find shelter in the tufts themselves. In the spring, there will be no shortage of nesting material in the garden with ornamental grasses. Try tall grasses like maiden grass and switch grass, or shorter forms like fountain grass or blue fescue. Nothing is better on a summer afternoon than relaxing in the garden, watching the birds and butterflies, as the breeze makes the grasses softly whisper.