meredith, I have a fairly young garden, so none of my shrubs are large enough to nest in yet. So a rose that would grow quickly into something that could provide a site for nesting would be great. I have a Honeysuckle Vine that is being used for a nest and that's it. What is a 'woods-eating monster rose' ?? [g] I'm looking for a very large rose that would also provide a screen of my neighbor's yard. I saw this photo of Cecile Brunner and this is the effect I would like to achieve. I also wonder if that is growing on it's own or on some support. Any thoughts? I wonder how much square footage a rose like that would need at ground level? yorkrose, Pyracantha have such a presence in the fall and winter. I've only seen them trained on a trellis that didn't seem like they would make good nesting sites. Was yours left on it's own? Rosa eglanteria is very pretty! I imagine any rose I try to grow as large as the above photo will need support of some kind. I have a Stockade fence in the area where the rose will grow and I wouldn't want it to come down from the weight of the rose. John Cabot is pretty athenainwi, I was looking for something a little larger. What kind of bird is nesting in it? buford, that Reve d'Or looks like a size I am looking for. I love Noisettes, but I don't think they are as hardy here. I was thinking that birds would like small hips like meredith suggested. Surprised that they would eat rugosa hips. I wonder which birds eat those. Lady Hillingdon is very pretty and I see it repeats. That is something that would be important for me because I want such a large rose, it won't really fade into the background when it is not in bloom. Olga, Yolande d'Aragon is a pretty rose. I haven't seen a photo of the plant but I did find your post describing yours. I am wondering if the large upright stiff canes would work for what I want. I couldn't find a photo of Vesuvius. Westerland and WBaffin are pretty. Couldn't find a photo of Bridal Wreath. I don't use insecticides or fungicides. I'm an organic grower. Thanks for all the ideas!

I started putting seed out for the birds in the winter only. But they hung around expectantly in the spring, so I've continued feeding year-round, adding a couple bird baths. The entire area behind our tall, wooden fence has grown tall and wild - it's an unmaintained strip of "public utilities" land, and has become a natural habitat for birds (and other critters). So we have our backyard and gardens and the birds come and go from behind the fenced area. I bought an Audubon bird field book and enjoy looking up new visitors. There's always a new bird to id. Over the years I've added many suet feeders that attract all kinds of woodpeckers, nuthatches, and sapsuckers. All of the other "regulars" enjoy the suet occasionally, too, and all of them eat from the suet feeders year-round, not just in the winter. The biggest attraction, though, comes by way of everyone's favorite food that I now put out regularly on the deck rail - at least all the insect eaters: I buy inexpensive jars of dry-roasted, UNSALTED, peanuts. I run them through my food processor until they are crumbly. I have yet to see a bird that doesn't come and gobble them up, including the woodpeckers and especially the cardinals. We have hundreds of cardinals. The best part is in the spring, when the mother birds cram as much crumbled up peanuts as they can into their beaks and fly off to feed their babies, then come right back for more. This goes on all day and it makes me feel good that so many babies are being well fed. We've had several bluebird and mockingbird families come to our deck, as the young'uns grow and learn to fly. Later in summer, the visits pare way down, so I know they're on their own now as far as feeding themselves with insects or whatever they'd eat naturally. They don't come around much at all during the summer. It's really fun and interesting - I didn't start this expecting to be a "birder", but I guess that's what's happened. During the early winter, we have many birds stop by that aren't usually seen in NC, on their winter migrations to someplace warmer. Sorry for the long post!

Hi Sam, we have a very small yard, too, but have plenty of birds. You're right about them killing pests, they eat them for free! Some of the plants we see bird activity in are; annuals (in our zone 5); -torch tithonia -petunia -sage, any sage or salvia (both have perennial varieties too) -zinnia perennials include; -liatris, esp. spicata, but really any liatris is attractive -aster, we have one I call thistle, it has tiny black thistle/niger type seeds, and the birds love it all winter long, they clean the plant out -ornamental grass, lots of seeds, bonus, very attractive all winter Also, if you can find a tiny corner, a little bit of scrubby brush is attractive to birds, for cover and a place to hide and for foraging nest material. This webpage goes into dif. types of birds & what they prefer, you can tailor your plants to the birds you want to attract. http://www.helpfulgardener.com/design/2003/bird.html Bees are also important, to me lots of bees is a good sign that my garden is healthy, often bees, butterflies & hummers enjoy similar plants, tho bees are more interested in pollen of course. Try to use minimal chemicals, don't want to poison the birds you're striving to attract, & they can be very sensitive to weed killers, etc. I am as close to organic as I can be, I do use fertilizer, but for pests, I really try to go organic. OK, have to admit, we feed, niger seed all year, niger, suet & safflower seed all winter. Cheating, yes, but we love the birds & it's a guarenteed way to get them to your yard! I'm sure others will chime in w/more suggestions, good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: list of plants to attract birds This post was edited by jomuir on Sat, Dec 1, 12 at 12:49

Cosmos will attract seed eaters, goldfinches love them. Hesperaloe gives you a double-shot: flowers attract hummingbirds and the seed pods will draw seed eaters. Salvia (many to choose from) attract hummingbirds. Check out the hummingbird forum for many more ideas (an often discussed topic there). Also consider something with some sort of berries. -O-