Garden Perennials for Attracting Songbirds
How to Bring Birds to the Landscape Environment Using Plants
Jul 3, 2009
These flowering perennial plants are all excellent for home gardeners looking to increase the wildlife friendliness of their landscape. Most will provide edible seeds that attract birds to the garden.
Coneflowers to Attract Birds
Both the common coneflower (Rudbeckia spp.) and the "purple coneflower" (Echinacea spp.) will attract songbirds and other attractive bird species to the garden landscape. The coneflowers are known to be especially attractive to gold finches and hummingbirds in addition to other bird species. Since coneflowers are not only easy to grow, but also provide weeks of color in the summer and fall, there is no reason for a gardener to avoid these plants. Both Echinacea and Rudbeckia are low-maintenance, drought-tolerant and will grow well in poor soil.
Coreopsis for Summer and Fall Feeding
Coreopsis is also sometimes called tickseed because the small, brownish-black seeds resemble ticks. That doesn't stop them from being consumed by a variety of finches and other birds though! When gardeners are through enjoying the cheerful, yellow flowers that coreopsis plants provide, they can leave the flowers to go to seed and provide a buffet for many types of feathered friends. Leaving the plants to go to seed can also create the possibility of volunteer seedlings in the garden as well.
Aster Flowers for Homemade Birdseed
Asters are well-known fall flowers that bloom from August through October - often until first frost in many areas. But what many gardeners may not realize is that asters can be a great source of food for birds in the landscape. These native wildflowers not only produce loads of beautiful blooms, but also provide a tasty treat for birds visiting the garden. Aster seedheads are white, fluffy tufts of seeds and the actual seed itself is at the base of the fluffy chaff. Small birds and finches are quite adept at picking out the nutritious seeds from within the seedhead.
Native Goldenrod Feeds Birds
Another native wildflower that provides a delicious treat for wildlife is goldenrod. While goldenrod is often blamed for fall hayfever, the pollen that goldenrod produces is much larger than other fall-blooming flowers. While the sweet flowers attract butterflies and other insects, the seeds produced later attract goldfinches. Other small birds appreciate the bountiful, tiny seeds so late in the season when other food can be difficult to find. Another interesting way that goldenrod can provide food is through the gall fly larvae that are sometimes growing in the stalk of the goldenrod plant. These insect larvae are an important and delicious food source for the downy woodpecker during the hard winter months.
These perennial flowers are all relatively low maintenance, grow well in a wide variety of garden situations, and will provide an inexpensive food source for local bird populations.
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