I so enjoy watching the birds at this time of year, as they flit from flower to flower picking out seeds, then scratch in the soil for any fallen ones, enjoying the natural bounty of fall.
Though you may be itching to take down everything, to clean up all your beds for winter, leave some late season blooms up for a few more weeks yet to enjoy the bird watching. Such a simple thing, yet imparts great joy.
Which flowers should you leave standing in fall? Which flowers are the best ones for the birds? Those with loads of seeds per blossom. (Psst, if you do not yet have these in your garden, you really need to plant some for next year ; )
Black- Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia). The perennial will start blooming in midsummer, adding colour to your garden all summer long, for weeks on end. The daisy like blossoms will look great till well into the fall. When the blooms begin to fade, the seeds ripen, and are a favourite of many wee birds, like chickadees, goldfinches, sparrows, and nuthatches. Leave them standing till the winter rains beat them down.
Blanket Flowers (Gaillardia) - This lovely summer perennial makes large, vibrant blooms that turn into cute little seed puffballs when finished. Easy to grow, pinwheel-like flowers bloom forever in summer, attracting bees and butterflies to your gardens, then feeding the birds in fall.
Coneflowers (Echinacea). This is my most favourite perennial flower. Bees and birds love it, deer do not, is drought tolerant, and the blooms last and last. Each year, it makes more and more blossoms, a stunner in the garden. It is sturdy and does not need staking, is a no-fuss, no muss, easy to care for plant. In fall, the flowers mature, dry and fade, are kinda cool looking, and the birds love to harvest their seeds.
Stonecrop (Sedum). Tall sedums, like the Autumn Joy above, are super hardy, drought tolerant, deer and bunny resistant, lovely to look at, and feed the birds, the bees, and the butterflies, too. They can be left standing all season for winter interest in your garden, will continue to look great till spring, amazing as that sounds, while providing the birds with loads of wee little seeds. Groundcover sedums also feed the birds, so leave them all be for now, do clean up in spring rather than fall.
Sunflowers, of course, are beloved by all sorts of birds. This annual flower provides one of the best buffets for the birds (and the bees, too). Everyone love sunflower seeds! Leave your flowers in the garden for as long as you can. The birds will eat the seeds while the plant is standing. When you cannot leave them any longer, just allow the seeds to finish ripening, cut the heads off, hang from fence posts or place on feeders for the birds to enjoy.
Zinnias are simply loaded with seeds, each flower provides a true bounty for our feathered friends. Zinnias are the workhorse in my kitchen garden. They are super easy to grow, drought tolerant, provide nectar and pollen for all the beneficial insects, attract all kinds of bees and birds to the garden all summer long. The blooms last and last. Leave them standing in fall, the flowers will still look perfect, taking on a vintage look, while providing the birds with their feast of seeds.
There are a great many other flowers that will also feed the birds, like tickseed, Joe Pye, grasses, mallow, and more... Leave them all standing in your garden as long as you possibly can, try not to be too hasty with your yard clean up in fall. Feed the birds naturally.
All of these flowers also attract and feed bees, butterflies, hoverflies, hummingbirds, and more, during the spring and summer, plus provide seeds in fall.
Happy Gardening!
