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Many gardeners I know have already cleaned up their gardens and flowerbeds for the season. I still have so many birds pulling seeds from the dried flower blossoms that I just don’t have the heart to yank everything out yet.
The goldfinches favor the fuzzy Joe Pye Weed seeds:
But they have some competition when it comes to the bee balm (Monarda) seeds because that’s a favorite of House Sparrows, House Finches and Black-capped Chickadees:
If you want to attract birds to your garden in the fall, don’t be in such a hurry to tidy up. Besides the bee balm and Joe Pye Weed seeds, the birds that visit my yard have also been feasting on meadow rues, nicotianas, zinnias, rudbeckias and coneflowers.