By J.R. Kendall
Flickr/Creative Commons: Noël Zia Lee
Landscaping with flowers is an easy way to attract birds to a specific area. Birds utilize flowers for food, water and protection. Adding fragrant, colorful and seed-producing flowers to a community park or backyard will provide hours of bird-watching entertainment.
Sunflower
Sunflowers display a giant bloom and produce soft-shelled seeds that attract many different types of birds. The black, oil-type seeds are easy for birds to hull, making them a tasty meal for gold finches, chickadees, titmice, pine siskins and blue jays. Many cultivars of perennial and annual sunflowers are available. Additionally, sunflowers come in diverse bloom colors (such as orange, yellow and red) and dwarf and giant varieties.
Zinnia
Zinnias are bird-friendly annual flowers. Colorful blooms--including orange, purple, yellow and white--can grow in single- or double-flower cultivars. From late spring to early autumn, zinnia flowers attract sparrows, hummingbirds, cardinals and gold finches. When grown in full sun and adequate soil, zinnias can grow up to three feet tall and produce long-lasting blooms.
Cardinal Flower
Nectar-producing, tubular flowers, such as the cardinal flower, often attract hummingbirds. Cardinal flowers are perennial wildflowers that produce dramatic red blooms and leaf clusters. Hummingbirds are essential cardinal flower pollinators. From May to October, hummingbirds can be observed collecting nectar from these showy, attractive blooms.
About The Author
Over the last 10 years, J.R Kendall's writing has appeared on significant websites including the National Geographic Channel, NBC Health, ABC News, Island Resources, Trails, GolfLink and The New York Daily News. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in writing and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.
