Favorite Annuals for Wild Birds
Annuals are so fast and easy to grow that everyone should plant at least a
few in their garden. If you don't want to bother planting annual seeds,
just visit your local garden center. The colors and scents of annual
flowers are a season-long delight. When you grow annuals, you can cut
beautiful blossoms for indoor bouquets. The bright colors of annual
flowers draw hummingbirds and butterflies. Dozens of songbirds flock to
the plants to hunt for insects or to feast at the seed heads.
Seeds for Winter Feeding
Annuals become even more attractive to birds as summer ends. When
cosmos and zinnias go to seed, they become a feeding station for many beautiful
birds. Goldfinches will hang from the tips of cosmos, stretching to nibble
the slim black seeds.
An old fashioned annual called love-lies-bleeding has unusual dangling
"ropes" of deep pink flowers that look like fat lengths of fuzzy yarn.
After the flowers mature, they yield thousands of tiny oil-rich seeds that
native sparrows and finches adore. Bachelor's-buttons attracts finches,
buntings, and native sparrows when its flowers go to seed. Because they
mature at different times, you're apt to see goldfinches and other birds
foraging for seeds even while the plant is still blooming.
When the garden season ends, don't be too quick to cut back your annuals.
Leave them standing in the garden during the winter. Juncos and native
sparrows will scratch beneath them, gleaning leftover seed that has dropped to
the ground.
Planting Annuals for Birds
Plant annuals densely, because birds feel more at home in thick growth.
You can plant transplants or sow seeds directly in the garden. To plant
seeds, first scratch the soil surface with a claw-type hand tool, then scatter
the seeds and crumble a few handfuls of soil over them. Annuals sprout
quickly and grow rapidly, but you'll need to keep the seedbed moist until the
seedlings are established.
Mulch for annuals with compost before they start to grow. This will
give them an extra boost of nutrients to stimulate flowering and will cut down
on the need to weed and water. Don't spend a lot of time fussing over
weeds, or tending the plants, because birds prefer to visit an undisturbed
garden.
| Plant Names |
Birds Attracted |
Plant Description |
Culture |
| Bachelor's Button |
Finches, buntings, sparrows |
2' to 3' branching plants with 1 1/2"
fringed flowers in blue, pink, rose, purple, and white from spring to
fall |
Sow in fall or early spring in average
soil. |
| Garden Balsam |
Flowers attract hummingbirds; seeds attract
grosbeaks, cardinals, sparrows |
1' to 2' succulent plants with pretty
ruffled 2" flowers in pink, purple pink, or white in mid- to late summer |
Sow in early spring in full sun to shade in
average soil |
| Cosmos |
Finches, sparrows, juncos, buntings |
Airy 2' to 4' branching plants with fine
foliage and lovely 3" to 4" flowers in a range of pinks, reds, yellows,
and orange. |
Sow in spring in full sun in average soil. |
| Love-lies-bleeding |
Finches, sparrows |
Bushy 3' to 4' plants, often with vivid
magenta stems; with velvety-soft tiny flowers on dangling tassels up to
1' long in summer to fall |
Sow in full sun in mid-spring when soil is
warm, in average to poor soil. |
| Mexican sunflower |
Flowers attract hummingbirds; seeds attract
finches, buntings, cardinals, jays, titmice, chickadees, nuthatches |
4' to 8' branching plants with large leaves
and velvety stems; brilliant orange-red daisy like flowers from
midsummer to early fall. |
Sow in full sun in average soil.
Leave plenty of space for plants to spread their branches. |
| Tickseed sunflower |
Finches, buntings, chickadees, titmice,
sparrows |
2' to 5' airy, branching plants with ferny
foliage, covered in buttery yellow daisy like flowers in mid- to late
summer. |
Sow in early spring in full sun in average
soil. Thrives in wet soil, too. |
| Zinnias |
Finches, sparrows, buntings, chickadees,
titmice |
Bright or pastel, flat or mounded flowers
on bushy, branching plants. Flowers and plants vary widely in
size, depending on species and cultivar. |
Sow in mid- spring in full sun in average
soil. |
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