Skip to main content

Attracting Birds to Your Garden

If you’re looking to attract more birds to your garden, it’s important to provide a natural food source for birds. From nectar-producing flowers to seed-producing plants, there are a variety of options to create the best bird food buffet. National Garden Bureau has highlighted five plants birds love for their seeds.

  1. Sunflowers: When you think of seed sources for birds, a bright, giant sunflower may be the first plant that pops in your mind. After all, if you regularly fill your feeders, sunflower seeds dominate many commercial bird food mixes. Growing annual sunflowers announces to the birds that you’re a gardener with good taste.
  2. Coneflowers: If you love watching pollinators enjoy your garden, plant coneflowers – and then leave the seed heads for the birds to enjoy once the blooms fade. You’re sure to spot goldfinches, bluejays, and cardinals snacking on coneflower seeds. Ten species of echinacea are endemic to North America, with colors that include purple, lavender, and yellow.
  3. Black-eyed Susan: If you love a burst of late-season color, along with seedheads that lend winter interest, Black-Eyed Susan makes a terrific addition to your garden’s bird food smorgasbord. With pretty yellow petals contrasting with the dark “eye” of the center cone that produces tasty seeds for the birds, Black-Eyed Susan is a classic plant in many gardens.
  4. Marigold: The workhorse of the garden, marigolds provide pretty pops of color among veggies, help attract pollinators while also repelling pests, and look lovely planted in borders along paths or filling containers. But did you know that birds love the seeds, too? Who knew that the humble, annual marigold provides so many benefits in the garden?
  5. Zinnia: Who doesn’t love zinnias? Sprinkle some of these annual seeds in the garden, and you’ll enjoy a brilliant burst of low-maintenance color in the heat of summer. But some older zinnia varieties topple in wind, succumb to powdery mildew, or produce only a few blooms. Thanks to new introductions by breeders, you can enjoy gorgeous colors, fabulous forms, and compact habits for small spaces – while still producing seeds for the birds.

For more information, including variety recommendations, click here to view the original article.