Attracting Wildlife to Your Winter Landscape

By Kerry Ann Mendez

Providing a food source for birds and other wildlife during the winter is a fun hobby that can attract some fascinating creatures into your backyard to view and enjoy. However, you're not just limited to bird feeders and houses - there are plenty of fruit and seed bearing plants that will do the job just as well!

Transform your backyard into a dining room for wildlife as well as a source of brilliant color with the following no-fuss, striking plants. Simply place them in a spot where they can be easily seen from a frequently used room in your home and enjoy.

Perennials

Save money on bird seed by planting these seed-packed perennial treats for our feathered friends (remember not to cut these back in the fall):

• Coneflower (Echinacea) Native
• Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) Native
• Sea Holly (Eryngium)
• Globe Thistle (Echinops)
• Many ornamental grasses including Switch Grass (Panicum) and Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium) Both Native

Shrubs

Expand the wildlife buffet with these berry-loaded shrubs:

• Winterberry Holly (Ilex verticillate) Native
• Elderberry (Sambucus)
• Many Viburnums including V. nudum 'Winterthur'
• Chokeberry (Aronia) Native

Trees

Branch out with these woody plants that showcase colorful winter stems or bark:

• Red or Yellow Stemmed Dogwood (Cornus alba, sericea and sanguinea)
• Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum)
• Weeping Willow (Salix alba)

And the bonus with all of these winter delights? Most of them also have lovely flowers that both you and nectar-loving pollinators like bees, butterflies and hummingbirds can enjoy.