>Unfortunately, we're not the most botanical of couples and would like to
>know if anyone can give suggestions on what to plant to attract waxwings
>(or any other sort of bird).

Please use native plants, if you want to help out native wildlife. You'll
probably get suggestions to plant holly, but avoid it like the plague,
which it is becoming in the forests around here. Even some fruit trees
such as cultivated sweet cherries are starting to invade our wildlands.
This kind of fruit can serve a few species, but the net effect is that it
degrades habitat and displaces much more wildlife than it helps. You might
think that what you do in a city doesn't matter since the 'habitat' you're
planting it in is just a grass lawn surrounded by buildings and cement.
But exotic species beloved by birds are often the worst offenders about
escaping into the wild because birds can carry the seeds so far and wide.

I don't know much about what's native where you are in idaho, but as
examples, here's some wet-side of the Cascades info. I'm sure that your
local bookstores will have at least one or two about gardening with native
plants books for your region, as it's becoming a hot topic these days.

Good PNW native trees to consider, depending on how much space and sun you
have, and how much natural water is available: douglas hawthorne (Crataegus
douglasii), pacific crab (Malus fusca), madrone (Arbutus menziesii). Seedy
trees like paper birch and alder can be good too, and will make chickadees
and siskins happy, but both need plenty of summer water. Since you're in
an apartment, you probably want something that either grows fast (bitter
cherry, birch, alder) or that can be bought in a largish size, of which
douglas hawthorne is the most likely.

And don't forget shrubs--there are piles of berrying shrubs: red flowering
currants (hummers like it in flower, too) red and blue elder (but they're
aggressive), salmonberry and thimbleberry (also aggressive), lots of native
currants, blueberries and huckleberries, buffaloberry, serviceberry,
shrubby alders such as sitka alder... Some of these can be very slow
growers. such as the lovely evergreen huckleberry, but others are almost
too fast (thimbleberry), and you'll end up doing lots of pruning. Some
shrubs, like ocean spray, produce lots of tiny seeds for the seed eaters
(as well as flowers for you, and the bees and butterflies). Deciduous trees
and shrubs will attract more insects than evergreens do, which is a good
thing, not a bad thing, because most birds eat bugs. But having a few
evergreens can provide some winter cover.

While wandering around the references keep in mind that there is a blurry
line between tree and shrub, especially if you're willing to do some
pruning. Serviceberry is usually a shrub about 6-10 feet high, but you can
train it to a single trunk which will turn it into a small tree in the
12-15 foot height range. Hawthornes can be pruned into hedges. Not every
species lets itself be manipulated like that, but enough do to make it
worth considering.

Some good books:

April Pettinger, _Native Plants in the Coastal Garden: A Guide for
Gardeners in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest_. A good
introduction to gardening for wildlife in this region. Lists plants by
habitat.

Arthur Kruckeberg, _Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest_,
a good reference, though aimed more at traditional landscaping than
gardening for wildlife.

Pojar & MacKinnon, _Plants of the Pacific Northwest_. A photographic field
guide that includes habitat information and has little maps to help
determine where a species is found. Also has interesting notes about
native american uses of the plants.

Sara Stein, _Noah's Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Backyards_ and
_Planting Noah's Garden: Further Adventures in Backyard Ecology_. Both
aimed more at the northeast, but the general principles apply, and they're
both essential reading.





Allyn Weaks allyn at u.washington.edu
allyn at cornetto.chem.washington.edu
Pacific Northwest Native Plant Gardening:
http://chemwww.chem.washington.edu/natives/