Plant Perennials and Grasses to Support Birds All Year
How they help, plus our favorites
As fall arrives, many of us will hang bird feeders and fill them for resident wild birds and those returning for the coming winter or passing through on their way farther south. However, this season can also be a time to support the birds in another way: by planning and even planting seed-producing locally native plants in our garden spaces.
Trees and shrubs are important parts of a bird-friendly garden, because of the nuts and berries they may produce, the insects they attract that become prey and the cover and nesting sites they can provide. Flowering perennials and annuals are just as crucial, however. Herbaceous plants with ample seed can offer birds a natural food source from summer into fall and winter. Their seed is particularly attractive to birds with small, sharp bills, such as chickadees, and those with hard, conical bills, like finches and juncos.
But these plants don’t just provide the birds with seed in the latter half of the year; they also play important roles earlier, from spring into summer. First, many native plants are hosts for insect larvae that feed on their leaves. These larvae can also become food for birds, with adults consuming them and feeding them to their young, too.
Also, some wildflowers, like beebalm (Monarda), offer nectar to hummingbirds as well as bees and butterflies, before going to seed.
Finally, these plants can delight our own senses, and when they are matched to the appropriate site they can mean less maintenance for the gardener to perform.
In fact, when these plants are grown with the intent of aiding birds, typical seasonal maintenance should be eschewed. Cutting the plants and their seed heads back in the fall would defeat the purpose. Remaining material can be cut back in earliest spring, but don’t cart it away; leave trimmings in the garden and the birds can scavenge it for use in building their nests.
Choosing and Planting Species
To choose species appropriate for your garden, consult with local wildflower societies, native-plant groups and cooperative extension agencies. We've created a starter list ("Suggested Plants," below). Many of the plants in our list belong to genera that are widespread across North America, so if one species's native range does not match your region, it is worth looking for a related species that does, using a tool such as Native Plants of North America. You can also build your own region-specific list by entering your ZIP code at the Audubon Native Plants Database.
Native perennials can be planted from seed or as transplants, in spring or in fall, with the best method dependent on the species, its origins and the garden’s location. For example, there are significant advantages to fall planting when starting native flowers from seed in cold regions. Many northern species’ seeds require a period in cold, moist soil to soften their coats before they will germinate. Fall sowing sets the seed up to receive this naturally over the winter and then sprout in the spring. Cycles of freezing and thawing will not only soften the seed coat but will also work the seed into the soil, maintaining the contact that is essential for germination.
SUGGESTED PLANTS
8 Great Perennials
1. Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum)
This three- to six-foot-tall plant produces golden daisy-type flowers that give way to abundant seed. True to its name the cup plant's large leaves form cups that hold water and draw small birds to drink.
Native range: Woods and prairies from southern Ontario south to North Carolina, west to the eastern Great Plains.
Wildlife value: Nectar for butterflies and hummingbirds; nesting material for native bees; seed for birds.
2. Showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa)
Stems stand up straight and unbranched, reaching one to five feet tall and terminating in a dense cluster of tiny yellow flowers. The bloom time is late summer into fall.
Native range: Open woods and prairies from Massachusetts south to Georgia, west to Wyoming and south New Mexico.
Wildlife value: Feeds bees and butterflies; seed for birds.
3. New England aster
(Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
This aster can stand over six feet tall, with clusters of purple to white daisy-like flowers appearing at the tips of its stems from late summer into fall. Seed heads can remain long after frost.
Native range: Moist woods, meadows and streambanks from Quebec south to South Carolina and west to the eastern Great Plains, plus mountains of Wyoming south to New Mexico.
Wildlife value: Larval host for several butterflies; feeds bees and butterflies; seed for birds.
4. Cutleaf coneflower
(Rudbeckia laciniata)
Maple-like leaves and tall, greenish central cones set this species apart from its relatives like black-eyed Susan (R. hirta). It can bloom from midsummer through fall and reach up to 12 feet tall.
Native range: Low woods, thickets and wet fields from Quebec south to northern Florida, west to Idaho and south to Arizona.
Wildlife value: Flowers feed bees; seed for birds.
5. Sweet Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum)
Large heads of tiny pink flowers top the two- to six-foot tall stems from midsummer through autumn.
Native range: Moist prairies and wood edges from southern New Hampshire south to Georgia, west to Minnesota, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
Wildlife value: Nectar for bees, butterflies and other insects; seed for birds.
6. Sneezeweed, or Helen's flower (Helenium autumnale)
Toothed petals surround a rounded disc on the many flowers of this two- to five-foot perennial that blooms from late summer through fall.
Native range: Streambanks and wet meadows from western Quebec south to South Carolina, west to British Columbia into northern California.
Wildlife value: Nectar for butterflies; seed for birds.
7. Slender mountain mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium)
This plant stays low and bushy, forming a clump of fine foliage to 30 inches tall. Clusters of two-lipped white-pink flowers appear from summer through autumn.
Native range: Prairies, open woods and pine barrens from Maine south to Georgia, west to Wisconsin and south to eastern Texas.
Wildlife value: Flowers feed bees and butterflies; seed for birds.
8. Mexican hat (Ratibida columnifera)
The rays surrounding the tall, brown central cone of this plant’s flowers can be all yellow or red with yellow edges. They droop down toward the three-foot-tall, bare stalks that hold them above a lower clump of foliage. Flowering begins in early summer but can continue into autumn if moisture is available.
Native range: Plains, meadows and savannas from southeastern British Columbia south to Arizona, east to Wisconsin through Texas and central Mexico.
Wildlife value: Nectar for bees, butterflies and other insects; seed for birds.
4 GREAT GRASSES
1. Little bluestem
(Schizachyrium scoparium)
Mounds of blue-green blades form dense mounds to three feet tall, turning red in the fall as white tufts of seed ripen.
Native range: Wood edges, hillsides and prairies from Quebec south to southeast Mexico and west to Alberta through the Interior West.
Wildlife value: Larval host for a number of butterflies; seed and nesting material for birds.
2. Switchgrass
(Panicum virgatum)
Green foliage creates an upright, narrow clump three to six feet tall. It turns yellow in fall, as airy seedheads turn red or purple.
Native range: Prairies, open woods and streambanks from Quebec south through Florida and Central America, west to Saskatchewan south through the Interior West.
Wildlife value: Larval host for butterflies; nesting material and seed for birds.
3. Sideoats grama
(Bouteloua curtipendula)
Growing two to three feet tall, sideoats grama has wiry foliage and eye-catching blooms that dangle from its stems in summer. Seedheads resemble oats.
Native range: Prairies, rocky slopes and wood openings from Central Canada south to Argentina.
Wildlife value: Larval host for butterflies; nesting material and seed for birds.
4. Northern sea oats
(Chasmanthium latifolium)
Broad blades are bluish green through summer, turning gold in fall. Arching stems produce drooping, oat-like flowers that turn ivory and then brown.
Native range: Shady slopes and streambanks from Pennsylvania south to northern Florida, west to Illinois, central Texas and Arizona, into Mexico.
Wildlife value: Larval hot for several butterflies; nesting material and seed for birds.
Sources: Plants Database, Native Plants of North America; Audubon Native Plants Database; Gardening for the Birds by George Adams.
Image credits: Chickadee by John Benson/CC BY 2.0 DEED; Cup plant by peganum/CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED; Showy goldenrod by Joshua Mayer/CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED; New England aster by LEONARDO DASILVA/CC BY 2.0; Cutleaf coneflower by USDA NRCS Montana/Public domain; Sweet Joe-Pye weed by Joshua Mayer/CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED; Sneezeweed by Andrey Zharkikh/CC BY 2.0 DEED; Slender mountain mint by Doug McGrady/CC BY 2.0 DEED; Mexican hat by M. Kersten/NMSU IPM/CC BY 2.0; Little bluestem by Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA/CC BY-SA 2.0; Switchgrass by Sten Porse - Own work/CC BY-SA 4.0; Sideoats grama by USFWS Mountain-Prairie - Lacreek NWR/Public domain; Northern sea oats by Brenda Loveless/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service/Public domain.
