The colorful Western Tanager
I really enjoy attracting as many varieties of Pacific NW wild birds to my garden as I can. I always hope to coax new species into my yard and each season I’m often rewarded with a visit from a few new feathered friends. I have two birdfeeders and one suet feeder positioned for viewing from the living room, dining room and kitchen. However, some birds are not interested in the feeders, so I’ve been adding a variety of plants to my garden that will help attract an even wider array of birds.
Adding the bird-friendly plants is working. This year, for the first time, I had a Western Tanager in my garden and he came back at least three days in a row! This medium-sized American songbird is striking with its red, yellow and black coloring. The brilliant colors reminded me of tropical birds and I found out this bird’s cousins are mostly tropical and that this particular species is the most northern flying family member. This Western Tanager event inspired me to secure a few more food producing plants for my garden spaces.
Yesterday, on a stroll through The Plant Farm’s nursery yard, I made a list of plants we have in stock right now that I know the birds will love. The plant list below would be a good one to print out and carry with you next time you come into The Plant Farm. With our big fall clearance sales going on now and all the gorgeous fall colors to see, it is the perfect time to come in and let us help you find the perfect plants to include in your very own wild birds dining table, like these…
Trees
Korean Dogwood
Korean Dogwoods: Satomi offers summer flowers of pink, fall red foliage and long lasting orbs of fruit birds love.
Flowering Crabapples: These trees offer an attractive spring flowering display, have bright fall foliage colors and very showy small fruits. There are Indian Magic, Prairiefire, Royal & Golden Raindrops to name just a few of the many kinds we have now. These are loaded with fruit so you can start attracting birds right away!
American Fringe tree: Very cool unusual flowering tree. Right now, you can tell the females from the males; you need one of each for fruit production. (Females will have the fruit)
River Birch
Yew: This evergreen conifer produces bright red fleshy fruit that woodpeckers, like our huge native Pileated Woodpecker, love.
River Birch: Chickadees like the seeds produced by river birch. The variety we carry, Heritage, has gorgeous peeling salmon & cream-colored bark and brilliant yellow-gold fall colors.
Serviceberry (tree form): spring blooming with masses of white flowers the fruit produced will attract cedar Waxwings like crazy! Great fall red foliage color too.
Shrubs
Wentworth American Cranberry: The brilliant red fall-foliage color will dazzle you, as will the large clusters of red, juicy edible fruit produced. Yes, you can eat some too, but remember you are getting this for the birds!
Ninebark Diablo
Ninebark: This is a native shrub & we have many varieties including Diablo, Summerwine, and Coppertina to name a few. It features pretty, colorful summer foliage, and clusters of beautiful white flowers will produce fruit in late fall. Even after all the fruit is gone the peeling bark has great winter interest.
Oregon Grape: Another native shrub, the many varieties of Oregon Grape can be colorful additions to your landscape. Red fall and winter foliage colors, winter flowers of yellow help feed the Anna Hummingbirds and the purple fruit produced in summer is loved by many varieties of birds.
Serviceberry: There are tree forms (trained into a single trunk) and shrub forms of this plant. The shrub form has the same attractive white flowers as the trees with tasty summer purple fruit. Great fall red leaf color too!
Viburnum ‘Brandywine’: The Viburnum is a striking shrub with large clusters of white flowers and blazing red fall color. The pea-sized berries start out green and as they mature in fall they turn brilliant pink and then turn bright blue with shades of purple thrown in. A real show stopper!
Snowberry
Snowberry: White berries are produced in great quantities on this NW native shrub. After the foliage falls in autumn the stems are visible as they droop gracefully under the weight of the berry clusters. New varieties produce pink berries and there is even a new groundcover variety of snowberry.
Barberries: These colorful shrubs are used as color accents for summer but are not really known as berry producers. The birds, however, know otherwise and they will quickly eat up the fruit as it matures from late fall into winter. Excellent summer and fall foliage colors as well; this is a great plant to add into the garden.
Blueberries: Why not plant some for the birds? Blueberries are a pretty addition to your landscaped yard with white blossoms each spring, summer fruit birds love and fiery red foliage each fall.
Twig Dogwoods: Every winter you will have stems with vivid yellow, red or orange to look at when most other plants have lost their bright shades. The flowers that are produced each spring give rise to great clusters of fruit the birds love. Many varieties have lovely fall foliage color too.
Cotoneaster
Cotoneaster: This plant comes in many forms from evergreen groundcovers to mid-sized or larger shrubs. The white flower clusters produce orange berries that birds gobble up.
Pyracantha: Every year the robins get drunk on the fermenting pyracantha, AKA Firethorn, berries. I even have seen the Cedar Waxwings eating the fruit right in the store near the front door, not caring that guests and I were standing close, watching them gobble up the berries!
So there you have it; if you plant them, they will come!
One more tip I learned years ago from a fellow gardener is that birds are cautious and will fly from tree to tree or shrub to shrub on their way to the bird feeder. The foliage provides protection and the birds feel safe from predators. Planting more shrubs and trees into your garden will entice these aerial masters to stick around your garden longer and if those plants are doing double-duty by providing food sources, too, imagine the new birds you will get to spot.
Bonus tip!
Anna Hummingbirds actually stick around all year in Puget Sound so providing the following winter blooming plants will help to feed our smallest feathered guests! These birds historically had been California winterers, but use of nectar feeders year-round and additions of more winter flowering plants have coaxed the Anna hummingbird to expand their winter range!
Camellia
Camellias: December-January flowering camellias like Yuletide (red) and the new Pink Yuletide, Setsu Gekka, and White Doves.
Oregon Grape: especially the Asian species like ‘Charity’.
Enjoy and please share with us how many new feathered-friends are coming to dinner at your wild bird dining table!
February is the month we anticipate the joy of spring gardening as well the month we celebrate love, and many would say the two go hand in hand. We certainly think so! Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and The Plant Farm is the ideal place to find a living and growing expression of your love for your sweetie. Whether your Valentine is playful or passionate or platonic we have hundreds of gift ideas. Here are five great gift ideas that will help your sweetheart play in the garden this Valentine’s Day…
1. Seed Packets It’s easy to understand why gardeners are passionate about seeds when you stop to consider that from each tiny seed abundant life is possible. Seed packets make ideal Valentine gifts. They slip easily into a Valentine’s Day card or make a unique and beautiful Valentine’s Day card in themselves. Many, like the Botanical Interest line of seeds, have elegant, hand-drawn packets with an old world charm and the symbolism of giving someone the seeds of love to sow is romantic. We have many seed lines to choose from such as Renee Seeds, Cornucopia, Ed Hume and Burpee. We’re proud that our seed varieties are hand selected for our Pacific Northwest climate, giving your gardener the best possible success with starting seeds.
2. Primroses If February is the month to anticipate spring, then the primrose is the flower that kindles that joy in our hearts. Primroses are dazzling, early blooming flowers that playfully shout out in vivid yellows, reds, pinks and blues. Not only do they bring color to your space but also they are so delightfully fragrant! Right now, we have a primrose special, 15 for $15, so you can make a big brilliant presentation to your sweetheart without making a big dent in your wallet.
