This forum seems to be very Flutterby-Centric... So, please tell me what you've got planted to attract birds to your garden.
Planting for Birds
Originally this forum was called "Hummingbirds and Butterfly Gardening". I wonder when it was changed to "Birds"?
I don't know how many of the regulars on this forum realized the change as it must have been recently.
I have seeds below my bird feeder growing! LOL That's a start!!!
I plant bachelor buttons for the finches, I have salvia, nemesia and bat faced cuphea for my hummers (so far)
edited to add that I noticed the name change just a few days ago, Becky
This message was edited Mar 31, 2007 8:05 AM
Here's a thread on the DG forum about the name change... http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/707689/
I think it's confusing. First the "Birds & Wildlife" forum split into separate forums for "Wildlife" and for "Bird Watching." That was OK; I could figure out where to look for what sort of posts. But having "Bird Watching" *and* "Birds & Butterfly Gardening" is making my head spin.
I noticed the changes, too, but I must admit that I thought that it was weird to have a 'hummingbird & butterfly' forum. I prefer the current title.
I do love the finches; I'll have to look into planting bachelor buttons. They seem to go nuts for my agastache.
The only birds I have planted for are hummers, which I have yet to see. I do have feeders for the finches (niger seed) and put down safflower seed for the mourning doves.
Thanks y'all for the info about the forum name change. I don't know if I like it or not. Before the forum was about nectar and host plants. Not seed/berry eaters. But I am sure that I will get tons of great info now with the addition of ALL birds!!!
I think I liked it the way it was named before, better :(
I have planned my perennial beds just for birds and butterflies, and have included everything from large butterfly bushes to Red Cypress vines, and echinacea, pineapple sage, salvia, others that I can't think of the names of right now (my brain is old). I also put out h'bird feeders and keep them going until frost. We also attract lots of bees with wisteria, lambs' ears, lavender, etc. This year I am going to make butterfly feeding stations for the first time and see what that does.
Edited to add honeysuckle (two kinds, several years) and milkweed (new this year).
This message was edited Apr 1, 2007 5:05 AM
I plant Rudbeckia, Echinacea and small sunflowers............. in fact any plant that leaves a nice seed head after its finished flowering!! The birds love picking at the seed heads!
Yes I love seeing the Goldies sitting atop the Rudbeckia pulling out the seeds. A very cute sight.
Heres a great thread for plantings for birds.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/682674/
I've been planting for all types of birds and butterflies, however, I've also been trying to balance that with not planting invasives. I admit that I have not been successful there. I've found it to be a very tricky thing to do as I happen to enjoy ornamentals a lot...
DG has been a great source of information... um, and *frustration*, because this is where I learned that many of my plants are on the invasive species list.
wrightie - Don't feel bad ..... I'm with you! I am a newbie to flower gardening and want to try EVERYTHING!!! lol It's just a matter of time before I regret some of the plants I have grown! LOL! But for now ..... I am enjoying them all. But I also know how to pull them out ...... if need be. ;-)
And I do agree about the sunflowers. The birds LOVE them!!! I am growing rudbeckia and Echinacea for the first time this year, so I will see what the birds think. But you should see all the sprouts under my bird feeder. I guess I need to look at the bag of bird seed to see what exactly it IS that is growing under my feeders. ROTFLMBO!
Becky, I used to get a lot of sprouts under the bird feeder until I switched to a mix that does not have shells/hulls. Sometimes I still get sprouts under the nijer feeder, but that happens less frequently thanks to the ground feeders, such as mourning doves, who clean up the spillage...
wrightie - I DO use the no-waste seeds! LOL Which is the very reason I spend more for those seeds than the shelled seeds! But they STILL germinate from seeds that are dropped. I also have ground feeder birds and a number of hungry squirrels that eat much of what hits the ground, too!
Personally, I think it's the location. EVERYTHING grows here ..... sometimes too abundantly!!! Except of course the plants that like much cooler, wetter weather. (Though they grow here too, just in the winter months.) It can be a pain and a LOT more work to keep a nice, neat garden/yard here in central Florida. And working out in the heat is no picnic, let me tell ya!!! (sigh)
I know .... complain, complain. I just haven't figured out yet what to put under the feeders to discourage seeds sprouting. Any ideas?
Interesting... I've got tons of squirrels as well. I noticed a big improvement regarding germination since switching to the cleaner seed.
Have you considered letting the sprouts just do their thing? I have done that in the past and wound up with some groovy sunflowers. They were only a couple feet tall and provided a little extra seed for the tweeties. My bird feeders are placed in an area that I consider to be a "cottage" garden, so I don't mind things being somewhat eclectic back there.
Oh! I wouldn't have a problem letting them grow at all. The problem is that the squirrels would climb up the plants to reach the higher bird feeders and would keep all the birds away. As it is now, I have a squirrel feeder mounted at the bottom of a post then a squirrel baffle, and then 3 different bird feeders all on one single 4" X 4" wooden post that is about 6' tall. I think the squirrels would climb up the branches of a Sunflower and possibly other tall plants to raid the feeders that are specifically for my birdies. They are greedy little piggies those squirrels! lol
I don't want to add any more bird feeders to the yard. Too much work and expense. (Though I do have another perch-weighted feeder in another location, but it doesn't get a lot of action. The birds all seem to like this post feeder because it is in the middle of my backyard. lol
BTW - I just weeded out a lot of the sprouts under the feeder yesterday before taking this photo today. There was more green than brown mulch at that time. (sigh)
This message was edited Apr 1, 2007 11:56 AM
Here's the Boss Squirrel, Simon! He's the alpha male of the group of 5 squirrels. LOL!
lol ... Well, the plants that germinated from my seed were far too small and weak to support a squirrel. The sunflowers had very narrow and short stems - they were not the tall & strong type. I have a LOT of squirrels in my yard as well, so I'm always looking for ways to 'outsmart' them (hah!)... Have fun.
Hmmmm .... maybe I WILL let one or two seedlings grow to see what I get! Now I am curious! Thanks for that perspective, Wrightie! Food (errr ...seed) for thought! :-D
Anybody who thinks the name change could use a little discussion, please go to the DG forum thread I mentioned above.... thanks!
Thanks, Critter. I may go check it out later when I've got more time. I must admit, I never bothered going to the Bird Watching forum because the name put me off... I'm more interested in ~gardening~ for birds than to go birding or to work on my identification and song recognition skills, hence my not frequenting that one. Maybe I was wrong about it.
There used to be 2 forums... "Birds and Wildlife" and "Gardening for Butterflies and Hummingbirds"... I really enjoyed both of them, and they seemed like "natural" groupings of subjects to me. The topic of gardening for birds got covered pretty well in Birds & Wildlife, I thought... and back yard feeders etc. are still being discussed in "Bird Watching"... but if the title is putting people off, maybe that forum needs another name like "Wild Birds."
Someone told me several years ago that the squirrels won't eat the white safflower seed and they were pretty much correct. I have had one squirrel that climbed the pole, hung on with one paw and ate like mad with the other paw, but that's the only time anyone has seen the little fuzzy guys go after that seed. There is no germination under the pole, just hulls. Enough gets knocked down for the ground feeders like doves. I have the no-waste seed in feeders that hang under the eaves where the squirrels can't reach them and I add some sunflower seeds, cracked corn and a "fruity mix" that smells good enough for ME to eat. I have one feeder that is just niger seed for the finches and small sparrows, also under the eaves. These birds eat better than a lot of people do!! And they have their big birdbath and lots of shrubs and trees. There are red feeders for the hummingbirds, but we don't usually get many of those little flying jewels. Birds are a big thing at our house!!
Edited to add that I really like Becky's feeding station. And to include the squirrels is a great idea. I throw corn out for them at the back of the yard, but they are greedy little buggers.
Also adding that I've never seen a plant that would support a squirrel outside of bushes, and I don't even think those huge sunflowers could, could they?
This message was edited Apr 1, 2007 4:54 PM
Bird Watching should be the name because that's the name of the sport (yes, I know it doesn't seem like a sport but thats what its called). Also its the # 1 sport.
I think the new title of this forum is too confusing.
Butterflies on their own is such a popular hobby/sport (?) that theres really no need to put birds into it.
Critter, When was the last time the Wildlife forum was called Birds and Wildlife; I never saw that.
My neighbors grew some huge sunflowers - very tall and very thick stalks. I witnessed the squirrels at the top of them, eating all of the seeds out of the flower. That pretty much devastated the children who planted them...
Wow! I would never have believed it. Those must have been some honking sunflowers.
Yes, I'm pretty sure that they were called 'BigHonkin' SF's...
The birds & wildlife name change was fairly recent -- maybe last fall? I'll see if I can find that thread... You know, you may be right... it might just be that "bird" discussion was rolled into the Wildlife forum until the new Bird forum was created (maybe I just thought of it as "Birds & Wildlife").. now I'm not sure!
BTW, there is also a "Wildlife Gardening" forum (formerly "Gardening for Wildlife," I think)... there's a lot of discussion about gardening for birds there (I just looked), so I don't see any reason this forum couldn't go back to being Butterflies and Hummingbirds.
lol I've been a member since Sep. '06. I've lurked on Wildlife and also tried to get some bird-related discussion going, but haven't found much interest...
Oh well, I guess I should take my tweetie questions some place else.
First, I have hung my hummingbird feeders, also for cardinals, bluebirds, etc. So far I have in the ground Mexican Flame Vine, Kangaroo Paw, Lobelia cardinal flower, red and orange lantana, red salvia c.. I have one big bed in a circle with nothing but plants for the hummers and butterflies...lots of different salvias which are really tender perennials but will overwinter down here.
I love the birds....they love to be fed.
Next come the coneflowers, rudbeckias, coreopsis......etc
I forgot the best.....Ascelpias
This message was edited Apr 2, 2007 6:05 PM
Hey Betty, do you find that birds go for your coreopsis? I grow it, but haven't seen any action...
wrightie - I see no reason why your question can't be discussed here. I think it just caught everyone who frequents this forum off guard with the name change. It did me and I am on here almost every day. And most of us here do butterflies and hummers ..... and other birds, too.
I think rather than asking about plants, a better question might be "What would make a good wild bird habitat?" Food, water, shelter, and protection? Are those the 4 questions that should be asked?
My answer - Food - Clean feeders as well as seed and berry plants (Shrubs and trees especially), water - birdbath, pond, etc. (but it must be cleaned out regularly to keep the birds healthy), shelter - nesting places such as trees, birdhouses, etc. and protection - safe places to hide in case of threat such as tall trees, thick bushes, quick escape routes, etc.
Those are fine questions, Becky, but my interest remains with the plants themselves. I've got a pretty well outfitted place with regard to food, water, and shelters. I have a selection of feeders: upside down niger tube for the goldfinches, suet, squirrel-proof, peanut, hummingbird, and fruit feeders... I keep a bird bath topped up year round... and my husband built me a combination roosting / nesting box which I can transform spring & fall.
However, there are sooo many variables with regard to plant options, that I find it interesting to hear what other people are doing in different parts of the world. In a few more weeks, as the perennials start filling back in, I'll post pic's of what I've got growing here.
This message was edited Apr 1, 2007 9:59 PM
Sounds great, Wrightie! Would love to see some of your photos! My guess is that the birds like berries a LOT. But I am sure many also like seeded plants such as the Sunflowers. And don't forget about plants that attract bugs. (Not cats, though! Ha,ha!) Birds do love their bugs to eat! ;-)
Birds, bees, butterflies and organic gardening - I've got plenty of bugs, trust me! I also tried my hand at feeding mealworms last year, but I'm not sure that it's for me. I think most of them escaped rather than providing dinner for anyone.
This message was edited Apr 4, 2007 9:45 PM
ROTFL! Yep! I haven't tried raising worms yet. I want to raise earthworms for my gardens, but don't know how much effort that would take. My gardens and butterflies keep me pretty busy as it is. Don't know if I dare add another critter to take care of at this time!
I edited my post, above.
Worms are easy: Just add compost and ~poof~ you'll have worms!
Ooooooh yes! I remember your yard! LOL I KNEW your DG name seemed familiar! LOL!
Oh good! I'd love to see what new plants and things you are adding this year! :-) :-)
Compost pile I don't have. LOL! I know .... I need to seriously consider having a place in my yard for one. :-)
No, you do not need a compost pile. Just add a layer of composted whatever to your beds (leaf mould, manure, whatev')
Nightie Night