Thanks Chris - most of the photos are right on the money except maybe the seedling stage. I don't recall them ever looking like that but always feathery. I'm going to keep them. They don't spread fast at all and the USDA site said they provide cover for small mammals and birds. Funny I have other Eupatorium (Joe Pye Weed) planted right behind them. Such diversity in form.

Thank you. I didn't realize the leaves would be that much bigger. The stem is light green. Hard to get a picture of stems and leaf attachments ;) After looking around, I think Rhonda is right in that it is a young cottonwood. It just looked so delicate...lol I thought it was some kind of bush. I might just let it grow, we had two trees die this year and this can replace one of them. :) Its funny there isn't any cottonwoods around close by, that look like this young one. thanks again!

I've been in my house for six years now. And I think the most important thing we do for birds is we don't use pesticides. Ever. When we first moved in, we saw the occasional mocking bird, cardinal, jay and dove. After three years of no pesticides, we had cardinals, doves, jays, mocking birds and finches all nesting in the yard and Mexican Orioles and Amazon parrots stopping by. We also saw a lot more butterflies and even some hummers. Fast forward another three years and I saw a painted bunting a couple weeks ago. We also have gold finches and several birds I haven't identified yet. And I have a very small yard. Yes, I plant natives wherever I can find room. But I think the most important thing I have done is make sure that there are bugs in my yard. A lot of these birds eat bugs. You can't plant bugs, you just have to put up with them. I caught my cardinals eating caterpillars off dying tomato plants at the end of the season a couple years ago. And I know you can attract cardinals with a good seed mix, but they also need to eat bugs. And I only realized the caterpillar feast was happening because my boy cardinal made so much noise, calling his mate, to let her know that there was a caterpillar feast to be had on the dying tomatoes. This was in April, when the tomatoes are pretty much done down here. Earlier in the season, I would have been out squishing caterpillars, or even spraying with soap. I do what I can to protect tomato plants - but my limit is chemicals. And when the plant is dying, I let it die in the yard, and feed the bugs which feed the birds. I also have one large trees that several birds nest in every year, and I have shrubs - some birds won't nest up high. They want low shrubs. And even birds who nest up high, like cardinals, need shrubs nearby for when they kick the babies out of the nest.

Western towees love the shelter of a white spruce. Birds make a beeline for that tree when storms are in the area. (Yes, unfortunately, it is a large tree, and not something you plant in a backyard.) Smaller birds are always foraging in the branches. Birds search in any pines with seed cones or nuts. Lodgepole pine is a favorite. Birds also eat wild hazelnuts. In season (when there is fruit), birds can be found in red-twig dogwood shrubs, dogwood trees (for cedar waxwings and scrubjays), chokecherry, wild cherry, and blueberry shrubs. I would think crabapples would be essential fall-winter food in your area. Birds move very quickly from food source to food source. This is especially true during migration periods. You'll see them for a couple days as they use up the available seeds, nuts, and fruit, and then they move on. I'd say plant a variety of trees and shrubs with the objective of providing shelter and/or a food source. And one of the most critical items that people seldom think of ...clean water.