Our Bird Watcher Plant Collection is a great option for enhancing bird habitat in your existing garden, or giving you a head start when planting a new garden. Repeat the collection to fill larger spaces. Switchgrass provides nesting habitat, shelter, and foraging ground for birds, and is known to attract Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Song Sparrows, and Lark Sparrows. Ironweed and Echinacea provide small fiber nesting materials, and will attract beneficial insects as food for birds; when flowers fade, seeds provide another food source. Ironweed and Echinacea attract House Finches, Purple Finches, Cassin’s Finches, American Goldfinches, Lesser Goldfinches, and Pine Siskins. Baptisia not only provides more pollinator-attracting nectar and plentiful seedpods, but also feeds the soil as a nitrogen-fixing legume. Elderberry’s spring flowers attract pollinators, which are an important protein source for birds to feed their young; fall berries provide a good food source for adult birds; the shrub’s elegant branches provide year-round shelter for birds and visual interest to structure the garden. Elderberries attract Northern Cardinals, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Blue Grosbeaks, Scarlet Tanagers, and Western Tanagers. (Birding information via the Audubon Society.)
*Plants are subject to change due to availability. If we make substitutions, we feature plants with similar attributes suitable to the collection design.
Our Bird Watcher Plant Collection covers roughly 61-100 sq ft and includes 5 plants:
28-40″ tall
18-24″ wide
Mid summer to fall
Baptisia
1 x Plant – 3″ Pot
36-48″ tall
24-36″ wide
Early summer
Wild Elderberry
1 x Plant – 5″ Deep Pot
8-10 ft tall
8-10 ft wide
Creamy white flowers in mid-summer followed by loose cluster
