Birds bring beauty and sound to the garden. It’s nice to put out bird feeders with seed and suet to attract birds to your yard. But birds still like to forage and find their own food and it’s especially important to have food for them to find when the feeders are empty. There are many wonderful shrubs and trees with fruits and berries in the fall and winter months. Less often talked about are the common garden flowers with seeds that most birds seem to gobble up. Let the last blooms stay on these plants throughout the winter and wait until spring to cut them back. Along with nourishment, many provide shelter and nesting materials as well.
Sedum
We usually keep sedum up for winter interest. It seems to start re-growing as soon as the old leaves die. But even the ground hugging sedum varieties are popular with pretty much all types of seed eaters.
Coreopsis
If you thought all that cheerful yellow throughout the summer was the only contribution your Coreopsis plants make to your garden, watch for the songbirds its seeds will attract.
Asters
There are many asters and some do better than others, but they all attract some type of bird, among them: cardinals, chickadees, goldfinches, indigo buntings, nuthatches, sparrows, towhees and more.
Black Eyed Susan
Like coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, or Rudbeckia, are prairie garden staples and can remain standing through most of the winter. Birds you will find feasting on rudbeckia seeds will be: American goldfinches, chickadees, cardinals, nuthatches, sparrows and towhees.
Coneflowers
These sturdy stems can remain standing long into the wettest, snowiest winters. Among the birds seen pecking at coneflowers are the American goldfinch and the pine siskin.
Globe Thistle
Unlike the nyjer thistle used in bird seed mixes, is an attractive plant and not usually aggressive. Its seeds are especially popular with goldfinches.
Goldenrod
Goldenrod, or Saladgo, packs a double punch. Several birds, like finches, pine siskins, yellow-rumped warblers and indigo buntings munch on its seeds. But it’s also a popular overwintering site for insects. So, the birds get a well-balanced meal from one plant.
Joe Pye Weed
Birds love the seed of the Joe Pye Weed,
or Eupatorium, to eat as well, and to use the fluff for building warm nests. Look for chickadees, wrens, titmice and juncos.
Silphium
With so many common names like Cup Plant, Prairie Dock, Compass Plant, this genus of tall, daisy-like flowers can be quite a sight in the garden when the flowers bloom way at the top of their stems. But birds like finches prefer them as their seeds are drying out.
Zinnia
If you’ve grown zinnia and collected their seeds, you know how many there are in each flower. A single plant can keep sparrows or goldfinches busy for an afternoon.
Other annuals to keep around for seed include Impatiens and autumn marigolds. Until next issue, I’ll be helping local gardeners attract more birds into the gardens here at Watters Garden Center. QCBN
By Ken Lain
Ken Lain can be found throughout the week at Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Rd in Prescott, or contacted through his website at WattersGardenCenter.com or FB.com/WattersGardenCenter.
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