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    This fellow is a rose-breasted grosbeak. A truly handsome bird.
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Published on Friday, May 26,
2023
By Victoria Torley
What can you attract with a yard full of ‘seedy’ plants? Some of our granivorous birds are finches, sparrows, trogons (including quetzals), grosbeaks, cardinals, redpolls, and nuthatches. All these birds love seeds and love to dine in your yard – if invited. How do you invite them? Plant ‘seedy’ flowers and grasses. First, here are a few tips on those seedy flowers. Don’t plant them too close to the house of high activity areas. Nothing like a lot of noise and movement to chase birds away. Plant some of your flowers in partial shade and some in full sun. Birds have different feeding habits; some are shy, and others are forward. And experiment with placing your gardens to attract birds. Have two or three different gardens and see which birds visit each one. Birds can be picky. Don’t deadhead your flowers! Deadheading prevents seed production, and you planted the flowers for their seed. Yes, you will have some ‘volunteer’ plants, but you can always weed them out. Don’t get too fussy in your flowerbed. Birds are watching and don’t like busybodies messing with their lunch. Do not ever spray your seed-bearing flowers. The birds will either ignore them or get poisoned by the seeds. Certainly not your intention. Some seed-eating birds will also snack on insects and help solve your problem.
And what are you planting in your seed garden? Glad you asked. Your first guess was correct – you are planting sunflowers. Grosbeaks love them. Just pick a variety that won’t get too tall for its garden spot. Zinnias, cosmos, and coreopsis are terrific seed producers and can be mixed together in one garden spot. Seeds that fall to the ground may start growing and renew your garden without your effort. Don’t forget marigolds – short or tall. They are cheerful and full of nutrition for birds. The low-growing sedum and moss rose to seem unlikely candidates for seed production, but birds love the seeds. Ornamental grasses, as every gardener knows, are significant seed producers. Use the tall ones in the center of your birdseed garden and flowers around the edge for a real eye-catcher.  Plant of the week. The dandelion (Taraxacum) produces a lot of seeds, but it’s best to stay away from them. They are truly invasive plants. It is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. The two most commonplace species worldwide are the common dandelion (T. officinale) and the red-seeded dandelion (T. erythrospermum) which now propagate as wildflowers. Both species are edible in their entirety.
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