Flowers for Birdscaping
A pretty and delicious smorgasbord for birds
Nothing is better than sitting in your garden, listening to the birds singing and watching the squirrels run over the lawn. The sun is shining, the flowers are glowing in the light and you're enjoying a lovely summer's day. However, you're not the only one who enjoys your garden - certain plants and shrubs will attract many birds and butterflies and add to your summer enjoyment. Flowers don't just smell good to you - they also attract the insects that birds need to keep themselves going through the day and provide nectar to keep those sugar levels high.
When planting flowers and plants for birds, the first thing you should consider is the time when they will flower or provide fruit or seeds. Birds use flowers and fruit as sources of food, and they need food year-round. Typically, the fruiting times of a plant will fall from late spring to mid-summer, early fall to winter and winter to early spring. Many fruiting plants are safe for humans to eat, so you'll reap the benefits of your new shrubs as well. Make sure to check first before allowing children or pets to eat any berries.
Summer-fruiting plants produce fruits or berries from May through August. A few examples are:
- Red buckeye
- Birch
- Cherry
- Chokecherry
- Honeysuckle
- Raspberry
- Serviceberry
- Mulberry
- Elderberry
- Blueberry
- Strawberry
- Bee balm
A few bird species attracted by summer-fruiting plants are brown thrashers, catbirds, robins, thrushes, cardinals, orioles, waxwings, woodpeckers and grosbeaks.
Fall-fruiting plants produce fruits or berries that ripen in the fall. A few examples are:
- Viburnum
- Cotoneasters
- Elderberry
- Dogwood
- Aster
- Sunflower
These plants, especially sunflower with their appetizing seeds, are important both for migratory birds that build up fat reserves prior to migration and as a food source for non-migratory species that need to plump up for the winter season.
Plants that will fruit between the winter and early spring include:
- Chokecherry
- Holly
- Cranberry
- Crabapple
- Hawthorn
- Bayberry
- Sumac
Winter-fruiting plants are those whose fruits remain attached to the plants long after they first become ripe in the fall. Many are not palatable until they have frozen and thawed numerous times.
When considering what to plant, also consider the bird traffic at different times of the year. Spring and summer are prime nesting seasons and birds will be foraging not only for themselves, but for their nestlings as well. Winter is a hard time for all birds, so providing food for them will help them live through the cold seasons. Anticipating what birds will need and providing another life staple, water, will draw more of the avian population to your yard for you to enjoy.
