Grow Your Own Birdseed With These 6 Garden-Worthy Plants: Your Backyard Birds Will Adore the Fresh Feast of Seeds

Every year, I grow a few plants to feed birds – and it’s not just for the benefit of my feathered friends. For a start, birdseed is expensive, so growing huge heads of stripy sunflower seeds for the cost of a $3 packet of seed simply makes good sense. But it’s the drama that DIY birdseed brings to my backyard that’s my biggest motivator to grow natural bird feeders.

Leaving seedheads to stand in borders brings a winter-long soap opera of sparrowy goings-on. There’s chattering and churring, squabbles and scolding, and a great flapping of wings when too many birds land on a single stem. My garden birds have got used to me sitting out on the patio with a cup of coffee, so I get a pretty good view of the show.

Then there’s the beauty of the flowers through summer, of course. It follows that any plant that produces lots of seed also attracts plenty of pollinators, so there are clouds of butterflies and bees as well as the colorful petals to enjoy.

I always cut and dry some stems by hanging them upside down in the garage, to save seed for the coldest weather snaps in January and February. And it’s become a tradition to string up a bunch of dried sunflower heads in the garden on Christmas day so the birds can join in the festive feasting. But mostly I cut out the middle man and simply leave the seedheads where and let the birds help themselves.

Do have a go and grow birdseed yourself. These are my top six plants to grow for birdseed that more than earn their place in the garden on looks alone, and are all super-easy to look after.

1. Black-Eyed Susan

American goldfinches just adore black-eyed Susan, and are hugely entertaining as they often hang upside down to extract the seeds. Sparrows also feed on the seedheads, while juncos will pick up seeds that fall on the ground.

If you’re growing from seed, stick to the native Rudbeckia hirta, available from Botanical Interests, as it’s quick to germinate. This carefree wildflower is suitable for zones 3–7 and is best treated as an annual – you can save seeds to sow the following year, or it often self-seeds.

If you’d prefer a black-eyed Susan that brings more of a punch to your backyard, then ‘Goldsturm’ is an excellent variety that reliably flowers from late summer into early fall. It copes better with heat so is suitable for zones 3–9. This takes longer to grow from seed so it’s best to buy an established plant, available from Nature Hills and Fast Growing Trees, or you can buy bare roots from Eden Brothers to save money if you’re buying a few. Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’ is a perennial so it’ll be back every year to feed generations of garden birds.

2. Sunflowers

Sunflowers are a food source for over 50 North American bird species including cardinals, tufted titmice, grosbeaks and even woodpeckers. The seeds have an extremely high oil content so are a concentrated source of energy, and contain a good level of protein too. While birds with strong beaks like blue jays and cardinals are able to crack open the tougher stripy seeds, smaller birds like chickadees and finches prefer the softer, smaller black seeds, so it’s good to grow a variety of sunflower species to offer both.

Annual sunflowers grow very quickly from seed so are suitable for all zones. Sow after all danger of frost has passed and, if you keep sowing a few seeds every few weeks, you can have flowers all through summer till the frosty weather returns.

There are perennial sunflowers, too, which produce far less seed, so be sure to choose an annual: just look for Helianthus annuus varieties such as these bird-friendly beauties.

3. Purple Coneflower

No garden should be without Echinacea purpurea, not least for its long-lasting seedheads beloved by chickadees, blue jays, house finches and American goldfinches. It’s a worthy plant to have in your backyard for its blooms, too, as this robust native perennial brings pretty daisy-like flowers from early summer to late fall every year. It’s low-maintenance, drought-resistant once established, and cold-hardy in zones 3–8.

Purple coneflower is straightforward to grow from seed, available from Botanical Interests, but typically flower in their second year. If you want to skip straight to the good bit, buy a ready-to-bloom plant, available from Nature Hills.

4. Amaranth

The seeds of Amaranthus are highly nutritious and each plant produces an inordinate amount, so will attract plenty of birds. Small seed-eating species such as American and lesser goldfinches and sparrows will be the prime feeders, but cardinals are also known to feast on amaranth seeds.

These annuals are very easy to start from seed as you can direct sow, and they grow very quickly, blooming in as little as 2 months after sowing, so they're suitable for zones 3–10. Eden Brothers stocks a superb range of varieties so, whatever the size of your backyard, there’s an amaranth to suit and are guaranteed to bring botanical as well as birdy drama to your garden.

5. Asters

Asters are late bloomers, flowering from late summer through fall, so are a valuable source of late seed for your backyard birds. American goldfinches and sparrows are big fans, while towhees and juncos will hoover up seed that drops to the ground. This perennial is a great addition to your backyard as it’s cold hardy in zones 3–8, low-maintenance and full of nectar to feed butterflies and bees, as well as producing abundant seeds for birds.

The New England aster, Aster novae-angiae, is a native so is extremely cheap and easy to grow from seed, available from Eden Brothers. Plant height varies from 2–6 feet, depending on growing conditions. Plenty of cultivars have been bred to offer greater flower power in a smaller footprint, though you’ll need to buy these as plants.‘Grape Crush’ from Proven Winners and available from Nature Hills is a more compact plant growing 24-36 inches high and smothered with incredibly vibrant purple flowers in fall. It naturally grows into a tidy mound, making it a super choice for a pot.

‘Pink Crush’ boasts the same density of blooms in the brightest pink you’ve ever seen, and is also available from Nature Hills. Both these cultivars allow you to grow lots of birdseed in a small space.

6. Love-In-a-Mist

These little lovelies have delightful flowers and feathery foliage but their seedpods are even prettier. Love-in-a-mist produces copious quantities of seed and, because they’re encased in a pod, last a little longer than open seedheads to provide a consistent food source through winter. All small seed-eating birds will feed on love-in-a-mist, including juncos, towhees, cardinals and finches.

So easy to grow from seed, Nigella is an annual but you can collect the seed each fall to sow the following spring, or it will happily self-seed. There are all sorts of attractive varieties to choose from. Sow as soon as the ground can be worked in zones 3-10.