I live in the city and I do get a lot of birds in my garden. I put up several bird feeders, birthbaths (just old pots and pans) and have several plants that attract birds. These plants were chosen for my own pleasure, but unbeknownst to me, they are attractive to birds, bees and butterflies as well:

- Bushes/shrubs for shelter
-Echinecea
-Rudbeckia
-Asters
-Viburnum - the native kinds with berries that birds love
-Phlox
-ornamental grass
-Sunflowers
-Beautyberries - Callicarpa
-Snowberries
-Cosmos
-Liatris spicata
-Caryopteris
-Weigela
-Buddleia - Butterfly bush
-Salvia
-Veronica
-Agastache
-Verbena
-Asclepia
-Solidago
-Sedum
-Scabiosa
-Lamb's ear
-Physostegia
-Perovskia
-Penstemon
-Monarda
-Lamium
-Lavender
-Honeysuckle
-Helenium
-Heuchera
-Geranium - hardy
-Gaillardia
-Echinops
-Eryngium
-Eupatorium
-Erigeron
-Dianthus
-Larkspur
-Coreopsis
-Aguilegea
-Achillea

Now that I know more about attracting birds, bees & butterflies, I would like to plant more for them, but I have no more room to add anything. I am planning to sow some Cardinal Climbers and Cypress Vines this winter for Hummingbirds.

You are in a warmer zone than I, you'll have a lot more choices. Check out the other forums such as Butterfly Garden, Hummingbird Garden, Bees, Bird Watching. There'll be a lot more suggestions on what to plant in order to attract wildlife.

Thanks pitimpinai. I never thought of alot of those plants. Can I start any of those during the winter if it's indoors? I'd love to get a headstart for the spring. Winter is just so long, and i love to work on my plants!

That was an excellent list! I would add blueberries and elderberries, and --if you can keep it way away from the house - a mulberry tree is a sure draw! Most of those listed are perennials, so go over to the trade forum and see if anyone has starts (baby plants) that you could beg. Some, like rudbeckia, are very easy to grow from seed, so you also might check for seed for sunflowers, salvia, asclepia, gaillardia, aquilegia, or centaurea (which comes in both perennial and annual types).

Don't forget annuals - the birds are fond of some very easy-to-grow flowers such as zinnias and marigolds. While perennials are a good draw with only one or two plants, the annuals seem to attract more birds if they are en masse, such as a 3' wide by 10' to 15' long bed with tall yellow or red zinnias, surrounded by red salvia and edged with yellow or orange marigolds. That's an eye-popper, but it does get the birds' attention :) Don't forget to put high and low birdbaths (lots of birds prefer their water at ground level) and keep the baths very, very clean - there is an anti-algae product available which works well, but the baths should still be scrubbed thoroughly at least once a week (rinse four times afterward because soap residue can make birds ill). Birdfeeders are optional, some folks do and some don't -- I like them, but I only keep the thistle-feeder going (for the goldfinches and juncos) but you might prefer the flat tray type which appeals to bluejays and cardinals. Check with the Audbon Society for more info link below to the main page, "bird basics" is on the right side.

Here is a link that might be useful: audubon society

Pitimpinai's and Meldy's suggestions are all first rate. Birds like fresh water, especially running water.

Celia,
A lot of these plants can be grown from seeds outdoors in winter. I have a lot of these seeds as well. Send me a SASBE I will mail you the seeds. You'll save a lot of money.

Please check out the Winter Sowing forum. It sounds crazy, but people there have been having a lot of fun sowing in winter and leaving those seeds outdoors through snow, sleet and deep freeze. I had much success growing plants that had failed to grow indoors for me before.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sowing seeds outdoors in winter!

I'm new to this area and last year had no idea whatsoever as to what I was doing. I put up a birdfeeder and bought a massive amount of bird seed for the winter. I just kept filling the thing up and they came! :)

One thing about that though, I learned why all of my neighbors had their birdfeeders at the BACK of their yards and not nearer to the house (where I had it so that we could watch them). In the coldest months, the deer used it as a feeding trough late at night(and ripped up the lawn a bit) and in the spring, all of the seed that was missed by the birds came up as weeds in my lawn. Whoopsie! LOL

I planted three butterfly bushes. Six inch pots about 6-8 inches tall when I bought them. Right now, they're still blooming and they're all 3-4 feet tall! Butterflies LOVED them! (so did the bees!) They handled wind, rain, even hail. No problem. They really like alfalfa, btw. :)

I have terrible clay soil, so I amended it with lots of compost and mulched them. Bushes loved it and they withstood even the hottest part of our summer, which is saying something. If they make it through the winter, I'm going to put more in. They're really no-brainer plants and even the neighbors commented on the number of blooms and the number of butterflies in my yard.

Here in Plain-o-Texas (Plano), we have alleys that have about 1-2 feet of dirt on each side of the cement. Loads of people use this space to do perineals/wild flowers. Little water needed, little time (aside from thinning and splitting up) required, and the colors are wonderful this time of the year. Loads of birds and butterflies as a result (except this year not so many bfs, who knows why?)

I have a strip about 60 feet long, 1.75 feet wide, and that is being turned into a butterfly sanctuary of sorts. Toss the seeds in, and let mother nature do her work. I did plan the plot out before hand, so I know what is going in where. I also went down to the neighbors that have a nice perineal garden and they said take what I wanted. So, I did, and I also did same with some more neighbors. Just ask first, you will quite surprised at how glad they are you are taking some of their overgrowth :)