August 3, 2013 / Leslie

Weekend Birding: A Bird Friendly Garden

Birds, Flowers, Garden, Photography, Photos

I have several wildflower gardens in my yard which I try to make bird friendly by choosing plants that make seeds and nectar that birds prefer.

In spite of planting a variety of flowers that hummingbirds are known to enjoy, I’m not seeing many of them in my yard. So today I added a hummingbird feeder. If the hummingbirds do show up, Weekend Birding readers will be the first to see the pictures!

While I was outside taking photos this morning I could heard the twittering of numerous Goldfinch. They are the birds that are happiest with my flower selection, especially the sunflowers.

Sunflowers are scattered around my yard. Many are volunteers that came up on their own in the spring. If they were in a good spot, I let them grow where they were. This one came up along the fence that I let my cucumber plants climb on.

Mrs. Goldfinch is enjoying some breakfast. These sunflower seeds have barely ripened and she’s already ripping into them.

My wildflower garden in the front yard is filled with several varieties of coreopsis, another plant which makes seeds the goldfinches love. They are sitting in the flowers all day and I’m pretty sure they have a nest in the Maple Tree near the flowers. I’m watching for baby goldfinches.

Another plant finches love is coneflower. The plant below is Tall Yellow Coneflower. It’s a native plant in the Midwest, is drought tolerant and grows in any soil.

In full sun this coneflower grows seven feet tall. The first year I planted it, that was a shock. I assumed it was the four-foot variety I see in the prairies. Nope. I pulled out the little tag that was in the pot it said seven feet. This was one of those plants I picked up at the farmer’s market because the picture on the tag looked pretty. I’ve divided it and moved some to a shady area and it grows only four feet without full sun.

And finally, above is one of my favorites, the Spider Flower. These bloom all summer from July until frost and attract butterflies, bumblebees and even an occasional hummingbird. Best of all, they grow from seed and cost nothing.

These are only a few of the bird friendly flowers I have in garden. Joe Pye Weed, Butterfly Bush, Purple Coneflower, Bee Balm, Blazing Star, Spider Wort, and Viburnum are a few of the others.

Saturday Snapshot was originated by Alyce at At Home With Books. For the summer it will be hosted by Melinda of West Metro Mommy. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.