Busy December

Every season has its busyness, but holiday preparing and plans always seem to compound it for December. The garden waits quietly for me- I still spend some time on it but it moves far down the task list this month.
This season there are different birds in the garden, and it can be fun to have feeders in order to watch them more closely. for some birds, especially later in the winter, feeding stations provided by their human friends can make a difference in their welfare.

I have been creating the Advent Blog Calender posts, but will continue posting here (on a slower basis than most months). There is a great deal going on in the gardening world.

For now:

I partnered with a company that supplies products for this, and they have some special offers running that might be useful to you readers.

There’s more to this post :)
One of the best ways to welcome winter birds is to provide habitat,seeds, and berries in the garden through chosen plantings. There are many beautiful trees, shrubs and perennials that feed the winter birds… here are a few to put on your list for next years garden plans, if you don’t already have them:
Wild Ones lists many more. Visit their page.

Shelter Trees-

* Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginia), primarily southern Wisconsin
* Eastern Arborvitae or White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis), primarily northern and eastern Wisconsin
* White Spruce (Picea glauca), primarily northern Wisconsin
* Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), primarily northern and central Wisconsin

Winter Fruit-

* Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), primarily southern Wisconsin – 24 species eat the fruit; particularly liked by Northern Flicker, Northern Mockingbird, Swainson’s Thrush and Northern Cardinal.
* Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana), primarily southern Wisconsin – 54 species have been noted eating the fruit, including Cedar Waxwing, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, and Gray Catbird.
* Hawthorns : Cockspur Hawthorn (Crataegus crus-galli) , southeastern Wisconsin; Downy Hawthorn (C. mollis) and Dotted Hawthorn (C. punctata) – Hawthorns can attract more than 20 species and are especially favored by Cedar Waxwing, Fox Sparrow and Ruffed Grouse. Also, they offer great cover and protection for nesting, due to their thorns.

Winter Berries-

* Winterberry, (Ilex verticillata ) – Fruits eaten by songbirds, winter waterfowl, and upland game birds.

Sumacs (Rhus spp.):

* Smooth Sumac (R. glabra) – At least 3l species eat the fruits, especially the Gray Catbird, Wood Thrush,and Eastern Bluebird.
* Staghorn Sumac (R.. hirta; typhina) – 21 species eat the fruit , including Red-eyed Vireo and American Robin.

Roses (Rosa spp.). Get native species that don’t need pesticides and fertilizers:

* Swamp Rose (R. palustris) – Its rose hips are eaten by at least 20 species and are preferred by Swainson’s Thrush and Cedar Waxwing.
* Pasture Rose (R. carolina)
* Meadow Rose (R. blanda)
* Prairie Wild Rose (R. arkansana) – At least 38 species feed on its hips, including Northern Cardinal and Brown Thrasher.

…much more info for year-round is included on their page.

You might like to visit my past posts, viburnums and Dent de Lion among other topics.