Planting a flower garden provides a colorful and aesthetically pleasing look and can attract a thriving ecosystem of critters to your home. Here are some flowers that could bring a variety of species of birds right to your backyard.
1. Purple Coneflowers
Known for its unique purple hue and droopy petals, this perennial attracts a wide variety of birds such as finches, cardinals, jays, and chickadees. Native to eastern North America, these flowers are hardy, drought-tolerant, and long-blooming. Grown best when planted in early spring, they should be planted in an area with 6-8 hours of full sunlight daily. They will need to be watered daily initially after planting and then they can be transitioned to one inch of water per week.
2. Sunflowers
Popular with gardeners and artists alike, sunflower seeds have a high nutritional value that keeps birds healthy and strong. These easy-to-grow flowers attract birds such as hummingbirds, cardinals, finches, titmice, orioles, chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and grosbeaks. Sunflowers will typically bloom from mid-summer to early fall and should be planted during the spring months. They should also receive at least six hours of direct sunlight per day and gardeners should allow the top 1-2 inches of soil to dry out between waterings.
3. Zinnias
These annual flowers are enjoyed by birds and bugs alike for their colorful blooms and nutritious seeds. Among birds that enjoy these flowers include chickadees, finches, and hummingbirds. Particularly good in hotter climates, zinnias should be planted in the spring and typically bloom from late spring to early fall. They should be planted in an area with abundant sun and don’t typically require supplemental watering.
4. Coral Honeysuckles
Also known as trumpet honeysuckles, this vine contains red flowers that attract different species of birds and bugs for their nectar and berries. They flower mid-spring and bring robins, finches, orioles, thrashers, hummingbirds, and catbirds to your garden. It’s best to plant a coral honeysuckle in either spring or fall as the summer heat will provide too much stress for the new plant to grow. Adaptable to many different conditions, it can be planted in either full sun or partial shade. It should be watered regularly unless your local climate provides a lot of natural rainfall.
5. Asters
These purple flowers are members of the daisy family and also contain nutritious seeds that attract sparrows, towhees, cardinals, and finches. Unlike many other plants, the shortening days of fall provide the best conditions for this plant to bloom as it flowers from August through October. Asters can take several years to grow to full maturity if planted with seeds, so typically, they’re brought into gardens from potted nursery specimens. They require full sun for most of the day, and new plantings should be kept moist with regular watering until the flowers bloom.
