Encourage Growth of Nine Colorful Plants Around Your Bird Bath for Consistent Color and Benefits for Our Feathery Companions

In the spirit of fostering a harmonious coexistence between nature and our homes, transforming your outdoor space into a wildlife sanctuary can be a rewarding endeavour. By carefully selecting the right plants, you can attract a diverse array of birds, providing them with food, shelter, and a stimulating environment. Here's a guide to help you get started.

The 'Winterthur' viburnum, with its lush pink, blue, and deep purple berries, serves as a key food source for cardinals, bluebirds, thrushes, waxwings, and northern mockingbirds. This versatile shrub also attracts hummingbirds with its fragrant white blooms in April and May. Another viburnum variety, the 'Brandywine', boasts lush leaves that turn rich red in the fall, providing a source of food and shelter for birds.

Coneflowers (echinacea), essential flowers to grow, offer not only vibrant blooms but also homegrown birdseed. Various coneflower varieties provide winter food for finches and other birds. 'Double Scoop Bubble Gum', 'Sombrero Baja Burgundy', and 'Sombrera Lemon Yellow' are coneflower varieties that last for weeks and offer food for birds.

Holly bushes, with their bright red berries, offer protection and continuity for birds year-round. 'Burford' Holly (Burfordii) is available as live plants for year-round charm. Black-eyed Susan (rudbeckia) are among the best flowers to plant around a bird bath, as they produce seeds that nourish a variety of birds even after their colors have faded.

Monarda (bee balm) is an excellent flowering plant to grow around a bird bath, attracting various birds with its vibrant colors and seeds. Virginia Creeper is a noteworthy plant to include near a bird bath, as it provides a place for birds to rest and offers rich purple-blue bird-friendly berries in the colder months.

Purple Fountain Grass, suitable for USDA zones 8-11, full sun, and well-drained soil, produces striking seed heads filled with feeding opportunities for birds in the fall and beyond. Agastache, also known as hummingbird mint, is a majestic flower to plant around a bird bath, thanks to its tall, fragrant spires of charmingly licorice-laced blooms.

Planting specifically for flowers, fruit, seeds, and shelter can attract the widest range of garden guests, including birds in search of food as the weather turns cooler. Elderberries, serviceberries, chokeberries, and dogwoods are lovely options for plants that produce berries in fall and winter to keep the likes of cardinals, waxwings, and woodpeckers well fed.

Janey Goulding recommended planting sunflowers in spring and autumn to provide additional food for birds at the birdbath. Growing plants for shelter and rest helps frame a safe and stimulating space for birds, making them feel more attune to the space.

The right blend of plants can attract a variety of birds, including songbirds, hummingbirds, chickadees, goldfinches, sparrows, purple finches, hermit thrushes, robins, Baltimore orioles, blackbirds, nuthatches, bluejays, woodpeckers, eastern bluebirds, robins, chickadees, warblers, mockingbirds, and more.

By thoughtfully choosing plants that cater to birds' needs, you can create a thriving, bird-friendly garden that not only adds beauty to your outdoor space but also contributes to the health and well-being of local bird populations. So, get planting and enjoy the symphony of chirps, tweets, and songs that your garden sanctuary will bring.

Encourage Growth of Nine Colorful Plants Around Your Bird Bath for Consistent Color and Benefits for Our Feathery Companions