by gardening expert, TV/radio host & author Melinda Myers

Add a little extra color and motion to your summer garden with containers designed to attract birds and butterflies. Many garden centers continue to sell annuals throughout the summer and many of these mid-season annuals are a bit bigger, providing instant impact.

It's easier than you think to attract birds and butterflies and the good news is you don't need a lot of space to do it.  Container gardens give you the ability to attract wildlife to your backyard, patio, deck or even balcony. Simply follow these four steps and your garden will be filled with color, motion and a season of wildlife.

1-      Provide food for birds and butterflies.  Include plants with flat daisy-like flowers like pentas, zinnias, and cosmos to attract butterflies. For hummingbirds, include some plants with tubular flowers including nicotiana, cuphea, salvia, and fuchsia. And don't forget about the hungry caterpillars that will soon turn into beautiful butterflies. Parsley, bronze fennel, and licorice vines are a few favorites that make great additions to container gardens. You can even create containers that will attract seed-eating birds. Purple Majesty millet, coneflower, coreopsis, and Rudbeckias will keep many of the birds returning to your landscape.

2-      Include water for both the birds and butterflies.  It's a key ingredient and a decorative small shallow container filled with water can be included in a large container.  Or include a free-standing birdbath within your container collection.  I used a bronzed leaf birdbath in just this way.  It created a great vertical accent, added interest to a blank wall and provided a water supply for the birds.

3-      Give them a place to live and raise their young. Add a few evergreens, ornamental grasses, and perennials to your container garden.  Use weather resistant containers that can tolerate the extreme heat and cold in your garden.  Then fill with plants that are at least one zone hardier.  Or add a few birdhouses.  These can be included in the container or mounted on a fence, post, or nearby tree.

4-      Skip the pesticides, please.  Nature, including the birds you invite into your landscape, will devour many garden pests.  Plus, the chemicals designed to kill the bad guys can also kill the good bugs and wildlife you are trying to attract.  And, if pests get out of hand, use more eco-friendly products like soaps, Neem, and horticulture oil as a control mechanism.  And, as always, read and follow label directions carefully.

And to conserve time and energy, try using one of the self-watering containers or hanging baskets that are on the market.  This helps to make it both easy and convenient when time constraints and vacations get in the way of providing ideal care.  I recently tried using one of the Gardener's Supply Easy Roller self-watering containers.  I filled one with wildlife-friendly petunias along with papyrus and golden moneywort.  After a five-day trip during hot dry weather I returned to find my container garden in great shape and hummingbirds visiting the flowers.

So gather your family and get started planting your wildlife container garden today.

Nationally known gardening expert, TV/radio host, author & columnist Melinda Myers has more than 30 years of horticulture experience and has written over 20 gardening books, including Can't Miss Small Space Gardening. She hosts the nationally syndicated Melinda's Garden Moment segments which air on over 115 TV and radio stations throughout the U.S. and Canada. She is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and writes the twice monthly "Gardeners' Questions" newspaper column. Melinda also has a column in Gardening How-to magazine.  Melinda hosted "The Plant Doctor" radio program for over 20 years as well as seven seasons of Great Lakes Gardener on PBS. She has written articles for Better Homes and Gardens and Fine Gardening and was a columnist and contributing editor for Backyard Living magazine.  Melinda has a master's degree in horticulture, is a certified arborist and was a horticulture instructor with tenure.  Her web site is www.melindamyers.com

###

Projects Will Create Park Space and Jobs

CHICAGO - June 23, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today announced $12.3 million to help communities build and improve parks. The Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development grant program (OSLAD) increases green space and provides more opportunities for outdoor recreation. The 42 projects announced today are expected to create more than 200 jobs statewide.

"Parks and green space within our communities are important to improving the quality of life for Illinois residents," Governor Quinn said. "These grants will help make sure that families are able to spend time outdoors enjoying nature, especially in urban areas."

The projects announced today will involve developing and constructing new parks and facilities such as picnic shelters and boat ramps. In some instances, funding will enable communities to purchase land to be used for future green space.

This year, the OSLAD program, administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), is funding 39 park projects throughout Illinois. Three additional projects announced today are receiving federal funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which provides matching grants to states and local governments to help acquire land.

"OSLAD grants are vital to communities in many ways and meet a core IDNR priority of leaving no child inside," said IDNR Director Marc Miller. "These grants create jobs, help make local communities even more attractive to other potential businesses and residents, and provide important outdoor recreation opportunities to citizens and visitors alike."

Grant recipients are responsible for contributing at least half of the total project cost. The $12.3 million awarded statewide this year combined with the grantees' share will result in more than $26.4 million of local acquisition and development projects to enhance the quality of life in Illinois.

The OSLAD program is funded through the Real Estate Transfer Tax, which is part of every property sale in Illinois. These projects demonstrate an investment on the part of local units of government to enhance the quality of life for residents, which attracts business growth and job creation locally.

The OSLAD program began in 1986 and, not including today's projects, has provided approximately $352 million for 1,557 local agency park projects.

###

CHICAGO - Lt. Governor Sheila Simon will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Title IX today with Chicago Sky Coach Pokey Chatman, Sky players Swin Cash and Ruth Riley, and some members of the Sky's honorary Title IX team. Enacted on June 23, 1972, Title IX banned sex discrimination in schools, and led to expanded opportunities for female athletes.

Simon, a record-holding high jumper at Wittenberg University in Ohio, will declare Wednesday "Title IX Day" in Illinois, and Coach Chatman will announce the Sky's honorary Title IX team. The team members are: Margaret Stender, chairwoman, former president and CEO of the Chicago Sky; Sarah Spain, ESPN/ESPNW contributor and reporter; Amy Skeen, president and CEO of Girls in the Game; Lisa Cole, founder of the Chicago Force; Julie Foudy, member of USA Women's Soccer Team; Peg Kopec, volleyball coach at St. Francis High School in Wheaton; Ramelia Williams, former Chicago director of Go Girl Go!; and Maria Wynne, CEO for Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana; and Lt. Governor Simon.

DATE: Wednesday, June 20

TIME: 2:30 p.m.

PLACE: James R. Thompson Center Plaza, 100 W. Randolph St., Chicago

ADDITIONAL: The Sky will host festivities on the plaza from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., including a performance by its acrobatic team and drum line. The declaration ceremony will follow.