Plants that feed garden birds
Plants with seeds and berries songbirds eat, and how to leave them standing for the winter.
Songbirds eat seeds and berries in autumn and winter, and insects (caught on the plants) in spring and summer. So a garden for birds is mostly a matter of not tidying it: leave seed heads standing through the winter, and goldfinches will strip the coneflowers and the grasses for you.
Every plant here is recorded by NC State as attracting songbirds. Shrubs with berries are the winter larder, and a dense evergreen shrub gives them cover from hawks and weather.
330 plants: 136 perennials, 12 ferns, 42 grasses and 140 shrubs.
The dozen to start with
-
Little bluestem
3 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
Blue-green summer blades turn copper and bronze in autumn and hold their colour through winter.
-
Christmas fern
20 in · grown for its leaves
The most useful native fern: leathery, dark green fronds that stay green through winter, in a tidy clump that never spreads.
-
Hollyhock
6 ft · early July to late August
Towering spires of wide, open flowers in almost every colour, the signature plant of the cottage garden.
-
Gardenia
5 ft · late May to late July
Glossy, dark evergreen leaves and creamy white, waxy flowers with a rich, heavy perfume in early summer.
-
Bugleweed
6 in · early May to late May
Glossy, dark rosettes knit into a dense carpet that smothers weeds in shade.
-
Purple coneflower
3 ft · late June to early September · host plant
A tough native with purple-pink petals around a bronze cone, blooming for weeks in midsummer.
-
Winterberry
8 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
A native holly that drops its leaves in autumn to show branches packed with bright red berries, which last into winter until the birds take them.
-
Pink muhly grass
3 ft · mid September to early November
In October a quiet mound of wiry, dark green leaves disappears under a billowing cloud of vivid pink that looks like cotton candy.
-
Cinnamon fern
4 ft · grown for its leaves
A tall vase of green fronds surrounds stiff, upright, cinnamon-brown spore stalks in spring.
-
Oakleaf hydrangea
6½ ft · mid June to early August
A native shrub for every season: cone-shaped white flowers that age to pink, huge oak-shaped leaves that turn wine red and purple in autumn, and peeling, cinnamon-coloured bark in winter.
-
Chaste tree
11½ ft · early July to early September
A large shrub or small, multi-stemmed tree with aromatic, grey-green, fingered leaves and long spikes of lavender-blue flowers in the heat of summer, loved by bees and butterflies.
-
Black-eyed Susan
24 in · mid July to mid September · host plant
Masses of golden, dark-centred flowers from midsummer into fall.
A bed planned only from these plants
The planner was given only the plants on this page that suit zone 6 and full sun, and designed this 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) bed from them when the page was made.
The plants
- 1 Verbena 'Homestead Purple' × 3, purple
- 2 Blanket flower 'Arizona Sun' × 9, red
- 3 Switchgrass 'Prairie Sky' × 3, tan
- 4 Prairie blazing star × 2, purple
- 5 Mugo pine 'Mops' × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Foxglove beardtongue × 4, white
- 7 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 8 Lowbush blueberry × 15, white
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 48% of the planted ground. The back corners are held by switchgrass 'Prairie Sky' and false sunflower 'Summer Sun', the tallest plants on the plan. Blanket flower 'Arizona Sun' is planted in three places along the bed, which gives it rhythm.
The planner's own design check: 9 Excellent, 6 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
All 330 plants
Show all 330, by where they go in a bed
Front of a bed 72
- Barren strawberry 5 in · late April to late May
- Bearberry 8 in · early May to late May · host plant
- Bearberry cotoneaster 12 in · late May to mid June
- Bigleaf aster 24 in · early August to mid September
- Bird's-foot violet 5 in · late April to late May · host plant
- Black-eyed Susan 'Little Goldstar' 16 in · mid July to mid September
- Blanket flower 'Arizona Sun' 12 in · mid June to early October
- Blanket flower 'Goblin' 14 in · mid June to early October
- Blanket flower 'Mesa Yellow' 18 in · mid June to early October
- Bloodroot 8 in · late March to mid April
- Bugleweed 6 in · early May to late May
- Bugleweed 'Black Scallop' 6 in · early May to late May
- Bugleweed 'Burgundy Glow' 6 in · early May to late May
- Bugleweed 'Catlin's Giant' 8 in · early May to late May
- Candytuft 10 in · mid April to late May
- Clustered bellflower 18 in · early June to early July
- Common blue violet 8 in · mid April to late May · host plant
- Cotoneaster 'Coral Beauty' 18 in · late May to early June
- Creeping mahonia 12 in · mid April to early May
- Dutchman's breeches 8 in · mid April to early May
- Foamflower 10 in · late April to late May
- Fountain grass 'Burgundy Bunny' 16 in · late July to mid September
- Fountain grass 'Little Bunny' 14 in · late July to mid September
- Fringed bleeding heart 16 in · early May to late August
- Goldenrod 'Golden Fleece' 18 in · late August to early October · host plant
- Goldmoss stonecrop 3 in · late May to late June
- Green-and-gold 6 in · late April to mid June
- Hairy lip fern 8 in · grown for its leaves
- Jack-in-the-pulpit 18 in · early May to late May
- Japanese sedge 'Ice Dance' 14 in · grown for its leaves
- Lowbush blueberry 16 in · early May to late May
- Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' 8 in · early May to mid June
- New York fern 18 in · grown for its leaves
- Nodding onion 18 in · early July to early August
- Norway spruce 'Little Gem' 18 in · grown for its leaves
- October daphne 8 in · mid September to late October
- Pennsylvania sedge 8 in · grown for its leaves
- Plantain-leaved pussytoes 6 in · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Prairie dropseed 'Tara' 24 in · early August to mid September
- Purple love grass 16 in · early August to mid September
- Robin's plantain 'Lynnhaven Carpet' 6 in · early May to late May
- Rock polypody 8 in · grown for its leaves
- Russian stonecrop 6 in · early June to mid July
- Sedge 'Bunny Blue' 10 in · grown for its leaves
- Sedge 'Everest' 12 in · grown for its leaves
- Sedge 'Evergold' 12 in · grown for its leaves
- Sedge 'Everillo' 14 in · grown for its leaves
- Sedum 'Dragon's Blood' 4 in · late June to early August
- Sedum 'John Creech' 2 in · grown for its leaves
- Sedum 'Lidakense' 4 in · late August to early October
- Sedum 'Tricolor' 4 in · late June to late July
- Seersucker sedge 12 in · grown for its leaves
- Shore juniper 'Blue Pacific' 12 in · grown for its leaves
- Showy stonecrop 'Brilliant' 18 in · mid August to late September
- Showy stonecrop 'Neon' 20 in · late August to early October
- Squirrel corn 8 in · mid April to early May
- Sundrops 18 in · late May to mid July
- Sundrops 'Fireworks' 18 in · early June to mid July
- Sweet William 18 in · late May to late June
- Threadleaf coreopsis 'Moonbeam' 18 in · late June to early September
- Threadleaf coreopsis 'Zagreb' 16 in · late June to late August
- Variegated Japanese sedge 12 in · grown for its leaves
- Verbena 'Homestead Purple' 10 in · mid May to early October
- Wherry's foamflower 10 in · early May to late June
- White stonecrop 'Coral Carpet' 3 in · mid June to mid July
- Wild geranium 'Espresso' 16 in · early May to early June
- Wild ginger 6 in · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Wild strawberry 6 in · early May to early June
- Willowleaf cotoneaster 'Scarlet Leader' 24 in · late May to mid June
- Wintergreen 5 in · late June to late July
- Wood sage 'East Friesland' 18 in · late May to late July
- Woodland stonecrop 4 in · late April to late May
Middle of a bed 97
- Adam's needle 3 ft · late June to mid July · host plant
- Anise hyssop 3 ft · early July to early September
- Arborvitae 'Hetz Midget' 3 ft · grown for its leaves
- Arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' 2½ ft · grown for its leaves
- Aromatic aster 'October Skies' 20 in · mid September to late October
- Aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite' 3 ft · mid September to early November
- August lily 24 in · mid August to mid September
- Autumn sage 2½ ft · mid May to mid October
- Beardtongue 'Husker Red' 2½ ft · late May to late June
- Bird's nest spruce 3 ft · grown for its leaves
- Black chokeberry 'Low Scape Mound' 20 in · early May to late May
- Black-eyed Susan 24 in · mid July to mid September · host plant
- Black-eyed Susan 'Goldsturm' 2 ft · late July to late September
- Blanket flower 'Burgundy' 24 in · mid June to mid September
- Blazing star 3 ft · mid July to mid August · host plant
- Blazing star 'Kobold' 24 in · early July to early August · host plant
- Blue grama 'Blonde Ambition' 2½ ft · mid July to mid October
- Blue mistflower 2½ ft · late August to mid October
- Blue wood aster 3 ft · mid September to mid October · host plant
- Blue-stemmed goldenrod 2½ ft · early September to mid October · host plant
- Bottlebrush grass 3 ft · late June to late August · host plant
- Calico aster 'Lady in Black' 3½ ft · mid September to mid October
- Christmas fern 20 in · grown for its leaves
- Common blanket flower 24 in · mid June to early September
- Coneflower 'Green Jewel' 24 in · early July to early September · host plant
- Coneflower 'Kim's Knee High' 20 in · early July to late August · host plant
- Coneflower 'Magnus' 3 ft · early July to early September · host plant
- Coneflower 'PowWow Wild Berry' 22 in · late June to mid September · host plant
- Coneflower 'White Swan' 2½ ft · early July to early September · host plant
- Cranberry cotoneaster 3 ft · late May to early June
- David viburnum 3½ ft · mid May to late May
- Doll's eyes 2½ ft · early May to late May
- Dwarf fountain grass 'Hameln' 2½ ft · late July to mid September
- Dwarf hemlock 'Jeddeloh' 3 ft · grown for its leaves
- False Solomon's seal 2½ ft · early May to early June
- False sunflower 'Summer Sun' 3½ ft · late June to early September
- Flowering spurge 2½ ft · early July to late August
- Fragrant sumac 'Gro-Low' 24 in · mid April to early May
- Fringed loosestrife 'Firecracker' 2½ ft · grown for its leaves
- Globe arborvitae 'Danica' 24 in · grown for its leaves
- Gloriosa daisy 2½ ft · late June to mid September · host plant
- Gloriosa daisy 'Indian Summer' 3 ft · early July to early October · host plant
- Golden ragwort 20 in · mid April to late May · host plant
- Gray's sedge 2½ ft · late May to early September
- Indian pink 20 in · early June to early July
- Inkberry 'Gem Box' 2½ ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Joe-Pye weed 'Baby Joe' 2½ ft · late July to mid September
- Juniper 'Grey Owl' 3 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Lanceleaf coreopsis 20 in · late May to mid July
- Leadplant 2½ ft · late June to early August
- Little bluestem 3 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Little bluestem 'The Blues' 3 ft · early August to early October · host plant
- Marginal wood fern 24 in · grown for its leaves
- Meadow sage 24 in · late May to mid July
- Meadow sage 'Caradonna' 24 in · late May to mid July
- Mountain fleece 'Golden Arrow' 2½ ft · mid July to early October
- Mugo pine 'Mops' 3 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Netted chain fern 20 in · grown for its leaves
- New England aster 'Purple Dome' 20 in · early September to mid October · host plant
- New Jersey tea 3 ft · mid June to mid July · host plant
- New York aster 3 ft · late August to mid October · host plant
- Northern maidenhair fern 20 in · grown for its leaves
- Northern sea oats 'River Mist' 2½ ft · late July to mid September · host plant
- Oakleaf hydrangea 'Munchkin' 3½ ft · late June to late August
- Oriental fountain grass 'Karley Rose' 3 ft · late June to early October
- Palm sedge 2½ ft · grown for its leaves
- Pink muhly grass 3 ft · mid September to early November
- Prairie dropseed 2½ ft · mid August to mid September
- Purple coneflower 3 ft · late June to early September · host plant
- Purple moor grass 'Moorhexe' 2½ ft · mid July to early September
- Purple moor grass 'Variegata' 24 in · mid July to mid September
- Red baneberry 24 in · early May to late May
- Rockspray cotoneaster 2½ ft · late May to early June
- Salvia 'May Night' 24 in · late May to mid July
- Sensitive fern 24 in · grown for its leaves
- Silvery glade fern 3 ft · grown for its leaves
- Solitary clematis 24 in · mid June to early August
- Solomon's seal 3 ft · early May to late May
- Spotted bee balm 24 in · mid July to early September · host plant
- Spreading English yew 3 ft · grown for its leaves
- Summersweet 'Hummingbird' 3 ft · mid July to mid August
- Sweetfern 3 ft · grown for its leaves
- Sweetspire 'Little Henry' 2½ ft · early June to early July
- Switchgrass 'Cheyenne Sky' 3 ft · late July to mid September · host plant
- Tennessee coneflower 24 in · mid June to late August · host plant
- Tufted hair grass 3 ft · late June to late August
- Tufted hair grass 'Goldtau' 24 in · mid June to late August
- White snakeroot 3½ ft · late August to mid October
- White wood aster 24 in · late August to early October · host plant
- Whorled milkweed 24 in · late June to late August · host plant
- Wild columbine 24 in · early May to early June
- Wild geranium 20 in · early May to late May
- Wild lupine 20 in · mid May to late June · host plant
- Yellow coneflower 3 ft · mid June to mid July · host plant
- Yellowroot 2½ ft · grown for its leaves
- Yucca 'Color Guard' 2½ ft · late June to mid July · host plant
- Yucca 'Golden Sword' 2½ ft · late June to mid July
Back of a bed 161
- Alpine currant 5 ft · grown for its leaves
- American beautyberry 6 ft · late June to late July
- American cranberrybush 10 ft · late May to mid June
- American elderberry 10 ft · mid June to mid July
- Arborvitae 'Degroot's Spire' 11½ ft · grown for its leaves
- Arborvitae 'Emerald Green' 13 ft · grown for its leaves
- Arborvitae 'Rheingold' 5 ft · grown for its leaves
- Arrowwood viburnum 8 ft · late May to late June
- Arrowwood viburnum 'Blue Muffin' 6 ft · late May to mid June · host plant
- Beautyberry 'Early Amethyst' 4 ft · mid July to early August
- Bitter switchgrass 'Dewey Blue' 4 ft · early August to early October · host plant
- Black chokeberry 5 ft · early May to late May
- Black chokeberry 'Viking' 6 ft · early May to late May
- Black cohosh 5 ft · early July to early August · host plant
- Black hollyhock 6 ft · late June to late August
- Bloodtwig dogwood 'Midwinter Fire' 6 ft · grown for its leaves
- Blue holly 8 ft · grown for its leaves
- Blue holly 'Blue Princess' 10 ft · grown for its leaves
- Blue vervain 4 ft · mid July to early September · host plant
- Bodinier's beautyberry 'Profusion' 8 ft · mid July to early August
- Bodnant viburnum 'Dawn' 10 ft · early November to late December
- Boltonia 'Snowbank' 4 ft · early September to mid October
- Boneset 4 ft · early August to mid September
- Box honeysuckle 'Baggesen's Gold' 4 ft · grown for its leaves
- Brown-eyed Susan 4 ft · late July to early October · host plant
- Burford holly 15 ft · grown for its leaves
- Buttercup winter hazel 5 ft · late March to mid April
- Buttonbush 6½ ft · late June to early August
- Camellia 'April Blush' 5 ft · late March to early May
- Carolina rose 3½ ft · early June to early July · host plant
- Chaste tree 11½ ft · early July to early September
- Cherry laurel 'Otto Luyken' 3½ ft · late April to mid May · host plant
- Cinnamon fern 4 ft · grown for its leaves
- Common milkweed 4 ft · late June to early August · host plant
- Common ninebark 8 ft · late May to late June
- Common witch hazel 15 ft · mid October to late November · host plant
- Coral bark maple 16½ ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Coralberry 4 ft · mid July to early August
- Corkscrew hazel 8 ft · late February to late March
- Cornelian cherry 16½ ft · early March to late March
- Cutleaf coneflower 6½ ft · late July to mid September · host plant
- Dwarf Alberta spruce 8 ft · grown for its leaves
- Dwarf Japanese yew 4 ft · grown for its leaves
- Dwarf white pine 5 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Dwarf yaupon holly 4 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Elderberry 'Black Beauty' 8 ft · early June to late June
- Elderberry 'Black Lace' 6½ ft · early June to late June
- False sunflower 4 ft · late June to early September
- False sunflower 'Summer Nights' 3½ ft · late June to early September
- Feather reed grass 'Avalanche' 5 ft · mid June to early October
- Flowering currant 7 ft · late March to late April · host plant
- Foxglove beardtongue 3½ ft · late May to late June
- Fragrant sumac 5 ft · mid April to late April
- Gardenia 5 ft · late May to late July
- Giant coneflower 6 ft · late June to early August · host plant
- Giant feather grass 6½ ft · mid June to early August
- Globe arborvitae 'Little Giant' 4 ft · grown for its leaves
- Goat's beard 5 ft · early June to late June · host plant
- Goldenrod 'Fireworks' 3½ ft · late August to mid October · host plant
- Grey-headed coneflower 4 ft · early July to late August · host plant
- Ground clematis 'Purpurea' 5 ft · early June to mid July
- Highbush blueberry 6½ ft · early May to late May · host plant
- Hollow Joe-Pye weed 7 ft · late July to mid September · host plant
- Hollyhock 6 ft · early July to late August
- Indian grass 6 ft · late August to early October
- Indian grass 'Sioux Blue' 6 ft · late August to mid October
- Indian hawthorn 4 ft · early April to early May
- Inkberry 6½ ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Inkberry 'Shamrock' 4 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Interrupted fern 3½ ft · grown for its leaves
- Irish yew 13 ft · grown for its leaves
- Japanese camellia 10 ft · early February to early April
- Japanese maple 'Bloodgood' 15 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Japanese skimmia 3½ ft · mid April to early May
- Joe Pye weed 'Gateway' 6 ft · late July to mid September
- Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' 4 ft · late July to early September
- Judd viburnum 6½ ft · early May to mid May
- Juniper 'Blue Arrow' 13 ft · grown for its leaves
- Juniper 'Skyrocket' 15 ft · grown for its leaves
- Korean feather reed grass 4 ft · late August to mid October
- Koreanspice viburnum 5 ft · late April to early May
- Large fothergilla 8 ft · late April to mid May
- Laurustinus 8 ft · early January to early April
- Little bluestem 'Standing Ovation' 3½ ft · early August to mid September · host plant
- Mahonia 'Charity' 10 ft · early November to late December
- Mahonia 'Soft Caress' 4 ft · early November to late December
- Maltese cross 3½ ft · mid June to mid July
- Mapleleaf viburnum 5 ft · late May to mid June · host plant
- Maximilian sunflower 8 ft · early September to mid October · host plant
- Muhly grass 'White Cloud' 4 ft · early October to early November
- New England aster 4 ft · early September to mid October · host plant
- New England aster 'Alma Pötschke' 3½ ft · late August to mid October · host plant
- New York ironweed 6½ ft · early August to mid September
- Ninebark 'Dart's Gold' 5 ft · late May to late June
- Ninebark 'Diabolo' 8 ft · late May to late June
- Ninebark 'Little Devil' 3½ ft · late May to late June
- Ninebark 'Summer Wine' 6 ft · late May to late June
- Ninebark 'Tiny Wine' 4 ft · late May to late June
- Northern bayberry 6½ ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Northern sea oats 3½ ft · late July to mid September · host plant
- Oakleaf hydrangea 6½ ft · mid June to early August
- Oakleaf hydrangea 'Alice' 10 ft · late June to late August
- Oakleaf hydrangea 'Pee Wee' 3½ ft · mid June to early August
- Oakleaf hydrangea 'Ruby Slippers' 3½ ft · mid June to early August
- Oakleaf hydrangea 'Snow Queen' 6 ft · late June to late August
- Oregon grape 5 ft · early April to early May
- Prairie blazing star 4 ft · mid July to late August
- Purple beautyberry 4 ft · late June to early August
- Red chokeberry 'Brilliantissima' 7 ft · early May to late May
- Red osier dogwood 8 ft · late May to mid June · host plant
- Red twig dogwood 'Arctic Fire' 4 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Rough blazing star 3½ ft · mid August to late September
- Rugosa rose 5 ft · early June to mid September
- Rugosa rose 'Hansa' 5 ft · early June to mid September
- Salal 4 ft · late May to late June · host plant
- Sasanqua camellia 8 ft · early October to mid December
- Schip laurel 10 ft · late April to early May · host plant
- Shadblow serviceberry 16½ ft · mid April to early May · host plant
- Showy goldenrod 4 ft · late August to mid October · host plant
- Siberian dogwood 6½ ft · late May to early June
- Smooth aster 'Bluebird' 3½ ft · early September to mid October · host plant
- Smooth hydrangea 'Annabelle' 4 ft · late June to early September · host plant
- Smooth hydrangea 'Incrediball' 5 ft · late June to early September · host plant
- Smooth hydrangea 'Invincibelle Spirit II' 3½ ft · late June to mid September · host plant
- Sneezeweed 4 ft · early August to late September
- Snowberry 4 ft · mid June to mid July · host plant
- Spicebush 10 ft · late March to mid April · host plant
- Spotted Joe-Pye weed 5½ ft · mid July to early September
- Staghorn sumac 'Tiger Eyes' 6 ft · late June to mid July · host plant
- Star magnolia 'Royal Star' 13 ft · early April to late April
- Summersweet 6½ ft · mid July to mid August
- Summersweet 'Ruby Spice' 6 ft · mid July to mid August
- Swamp sunflower 6½ ft · late September to late October · host plant
- Sweet Joe Pye weed 6 ft · late July to early September
- Switchgrass 'Cloud Nine' 7 ft · early August to early October · host plant
- Switchgrass 'Heavy Metal' 4½ ft · late July to mid September · host plant
- Switchgrass 'Northwind' 5½ ft · early August to early October · host plant
- Switchgrass 'Prairie Sky' 5 ft · early August to early October · host plant
- Switchgrass 'Shenandoah' 4 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Tall coreopsis 6 ft · early August to mid September
- Tatarian dogwood 'Ivory Halo' 6 ft · grown for its leaves
- Variegated red twig dogwood 6½ ft · grown for its leaves
- Vernal witch hazel 8 ft · mid January to early March
- Virginia rose 5 ft · mid June to mid July
- Virginia sweetspire 5 ft · early June to early July
- Virginia sweetspire 'Henry's Garnet' 4 ft · early June to early July
- Wax myrtle 15 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Weeping Canadian hemlock 5 ft · grown for its leaves
- Western sword fern 3½ ft · grown for its leaves
- White fringe tree 15 ft · late May to early June
- White meadowsweet 4 ft · late June to late August · host plant
- White snakeroot 'Chocolate' 3½ ft · mid September to mid October
- Willowleaf sunflower 'First Light' 4 ft · mid September to mid October
- Winged sumac 11½ ft · late July to late August · host plant
- Winterberry 8 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Winterberry 'Berry Poppins' 3½ ft · early June to late June · host plant
- Winterberry 'Red Sprite' 4 ft · grown for its leaves · host plant
- Winterberry 'Winter Red' 8 ft · early June to late June · host plant
- Witherod viburnum 'Winterthur' 6½ ft · early June to late June · host plant
- Woodland sunflower 4 ft · mid July to early September · host plant
- Yellow twig dogwood 6½ ft · grown for its leaves · host plant