Growing beautiful flowers that also attract songbirds to your garden may seem too good to be true. But many of a gardener's favorite flowers are equally enticing to birds. Some flowers attract birds to their colorful blossoms and nectar, while other flowers provide nutrient-rich seeds and berries. And remember, beautiful flowers are not limited to your beds and borders, but include flowering shrubs and ornamental trees.
Flowers that attract songbirds
Some of the gardens most exotic summer flowers are perfect for attracting songbirds, but as a gardener you must be willing to cope with a bit of late-summer untidiness. Fussy gardeners may want to plant these in an out-of-the-way location. Other gardeners appreciate the bright flashes of colorful birds and the songs they bring and don't worry about a shaggy appearance.
Coreopsis: While it is perfectly acceptable to keep your coreopsis deadheaded to encourage more blooms in early summer, you really should let the second crop go to seed if you hope to attract birds.
Zinnias and black-eyed Susans also provide nutrient-rich seed for songbirds. Again, birds are attracted to the seeds.
Sunflowers are a favorite for most birds. And the many varieties assure at least one will be perfect for almost any flower bed. In addition to the traditional head-high giant yellow sunflowers, there are many that are not so tall. These come in spectacular colors, including many shades of yellow and orange as well as deep crimson and variegated varieties.
Coneflower, also known as Echinacea, provides a feast of seeds for birds. Beginning in mid-summer, as soon as the seed heads form, goldfinches will appear, seemingly from nowhere. With their clear, cheerful song and bright flashes of yellow, they are a much-prized addition to the garden. Echinacea is now available in a wide range of colors beyond the traditional purple.
Shrubs and trees
Flowering shrubs and small ornamental trees are often grown to attract songbirds to the yard. The spring flowers are spectacular and the berries produced later in the year will provide lunch for favorite birds through many cold months. Trees and shrubs also provide shelter year-round.
Dogwood is especially prized for its show of white or pink flowers in mid-spring. Adaptable to many shady areas, it is often grown for that reason alone. But the red berries that persist through much of the winter continue to add color and interest to the yard while providing food and shelter for many species of birds.
Other spring-blooming trees and shrubs include such showy choices as winterberry, chokeberry, flowering crabapple and other fruit trees. Since some flowering trees tend to be a bit messy, many gardeners choose to plant them in inconspicuous parts of the yard.
Websites such as Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Kansas State University provide further tips for using native plantings to encourage songbirds to the flowers in your garden.
With a bit of planning, your garden will delight you well into the winter with the brilliant plumage and cheerful songs of your favorite songbirds.
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Invite birds to your yard with a solar bird bath. It will look stylish and it will bring the birds. |
A solar powered birdbath is a terrific environmentally friendly that your feathered friends can use all year long. |
Make your own birdbath from copper easily and save on the pricey catalog version if you are willing to invest a little time and energy into this project. |
Adding plants that attract birds to your existing garden will result in winged visitors that come for the blossoms and foliage, the seeds and even the insects that are drawn to the same plants. |
