Bringing Birds To the Garden

September through December proves the best time of year for planting new trees and shrubs in our area. Woodies planted now have the chance to develop strong root systems through the autumn and winter. They are more likely to survive when planted in fall than in the spring.

My ‘to do’ list for the next few weeks includes moving various shrubs and small trees out of their pots and into the ground. And I am always most interested in those woody plants which also attract and support birds in our garden.

This post contains a revised list of  more than 30 woody plants which attract and support a wide variety of birds.  These are native or naturalized in our region of the United States.  Adding a few of these beautiful trees and shrubs guarantees more birds visiting your garden, too.

Read on for specific tips to increase the number of  wildlife species, especially birds, which visit your garden throughout the year.

-WG

Forest Garden

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Do you feed the birds?  Most of us gardeners do.  Unless you are protecting a crop of blueberries or blackberries, you probably enjoy the energy and joy birds bring to the garden with their antics and songs.  Birds also vacuum up thousands of flying, crawling, and burrowing insects.  Even hummingbirds eat an enormous number of insects as they fly around from blossom to blossom seeking sweet nectar.  Birds are an important part of a balanced garden community.

We have everything from owls and red tailed hawks to hummingbirds visiting our garden, and we enjoy the occasional brood of chicks raised in shrubs near the house. There is an extended family of red “Guard-inals” who keep a vigilant watch on our coming and goings and all of the activities of the garden.  There are tufted titmice who pull apart the coco liners in the hanging baskets to build their…

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Three Day Quotation Challenge: “Songs Too Sweet and Wild”

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“Some birds are not meant to be caged, that’s all.

Their feathers are too bright,

their songs too sweet and wild.

So you let them go, or when you open the cage

to feed them they somehow fly out past you.

And the part of you that knows

it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices,

but still, the place where you live

is that much more drab and empty

for their departure.”

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Stephen King

 

Robin, at Breezes at Dawn, has been participating in the Three Day Quote Challenge.  She was invited by our mutual friend, Eliza.   Both have  issued a general invitation for any of their followers to join in.

The rules are simple:  Post an inspirational, uplifting quote for three consecutive days, and invite three other bloggers to join you.  If you are reading this, please consider yourself invited.

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“Can miles truly separate you from friends…

If you want to be with someone you love,

aren’t you already there?”

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Richard Bach

 

Photos by Woodland Gnome 2016

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Southern Wax Myrtle

Southern Wax Myrtle along the front edge of our garden.

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Southern Wax Myrtle, Myrica cerifera, makes a beautiful loose hedge across the front of our garden.  A tough, fast growing evergreen, this shrub is covered in beautiful, dusty blue berries in autumn.  The late spring flowers are tiny and white, almost unnoticeable, but the fall berries clothe the stems in soft blue.

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Myrica cerifera produces beautiful blue berries along its branches each autumn.

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Growing to 15′ tall and wide, it offers privacy and attracts many species of birds, offering shelter and safe areas to perch.  The berries, produced only on female plants, offer migrating birds an important source of food.

Growing from New Jersey south to Florida along the East Coast, and then west along the Gulf into Texas, Southern Wax Myrtle is hardy in zones 6-9.  Closely related to Northern Bayberry, Myrica pensylvanica which grows in Zones 3-7;  it is also fragrant, and its berries can also be boiled to render a waxy substance for use in candle making.   Both shrubs can take salt spray and thrive near the coast.  Southern Wax Myrtle grows considerably taller than the Northern Bayberry, and retains its leaves.  Northern Bayberry loses many of its leaves during the winter.  Both enjoy part shade to full sun.

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Native Americans and the early settlers used Myraca to treat a number of conditions from diarrhea to fever.  Compounds in both the roots and leaves can be used in herbal medicine.

Unattractive to deer, this is a reliable grower in the edges of a forest garden.  It tolerates a variety of soils from sand to clay, and will grow in areas with low soil fertility.  It is one of the first shrubs to colonize a newly cleared area.  Its roots fix more nitrogen in the soil than many legumes, and so it actually improves the soil where it grows.   it is a thirsty shrub and is happy growing near water, but can tolerate periods of drought.  Southern Wax Myrtle will spread by underground roots which sucker, which makes it even more effective as a screening plant or hedge.

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Finally, this is a good plant to cut for holiday decorations.  Although many of the berries may already be eaten by mid-December, branches will last many weeks in a vase with water.  Its evergreen leaves will remain fresh looking into the new year.  Because of its loose, branchy habit, I like to use it with small glass birds clipped onto the branches.  It makes a good filler for flower arrangements, and the the shrub responds well to pruning with new growth in spring.

This tough, beautiful, native shrub is an excellent choice for anyone hoping to attract more birds to their garden.

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Southern Wax Myrtle in August.

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All Photos by Woodland Gnome

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Southern Wax Myrtle grows as a large shrub or small tree, and grows thickly enough to make a good screen.

Related articles

• The Wax Myrtle Flowers Make Great Additions to Landscaping (landscaping.answers.com)
• “Miss Huff” Perennial Lantana (forestgardenblog.wordpress.com)
• Basic Facts About the Wax Myrtle (forestry.answers.com)
• Berried Treasures-Planting the Best Berried Shrubs for Your Fall Garden (thegardendiaries.wordpress.com)
• Deer Resistant Plants