Utah Plants for Wildlife Habitat & Conservation Landscaping
The following are WindStar Wildlife Institute’s plant recommendations for wildlife habitats in Utah:
Trees
Red & White Alder, Quaking Aspen, River & Paper Birch, Black Cottonwood, Douglas, Grand, & Subalpine Fir, Western Hemlock, Western Larch, Ponderosa, Lodgepole, & Western White Pine, Western Red Cedar, Engelmann Spruce
Shrubs
Bittercherry, Golden Current, Black Hawthorn, Mock-Orange, Red-flowering Current, Serviceberry, Bearberry or Kinnikinnick, Creeping Oregon Grape, Mountain Ash, Elderberry, Blackberry, Snowberry
Cardinals are beautiful birds that are common in Utah.
Wildflowers
Welsh’s Milkweed; Autumn Buttercup; Aquarius Indian Paintbrush; Clay Reed Mustard; Deseret, Heliotrope, Holmgren, Horseshoe and Isely Milkvetch; Dwarf Bearclaw Poppy; Flat Tops Wild Buckwheat; Graham Beardtongue; Maguire Daisy; Maguire Primrose; Navajo Sedge; Rabbit Valley Gilia or Wonderland Alice Flower; San Rafael, Siler Pincushion, Uinta Basin Hookless, Winkler Pincushion and Wright Fishhook Cactus; Shrubby Reed Mustard.
Grasses
June Grass, Mountain Brome, Tufted Hairgrass, Bluegrasses, Bluebunch Wheatgrass, Mountain Brome
The Utah Native Plant Society can provide lists of plants for a specific region.
For more information on improving your wildlife habitat, visit the WindStar Wildlife Institute web site. On the web site, you can also apply to certify your property as a wildlife habitat, register for the “Certified Wildlife Habitat Naturalist e-Learning course, become a member and sign up for the FREE WindStar Wildlife Garden Weekly e-mail newsletter.