Date: 4/9/26 10:12 am From: LMarkoff via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Native plant issues resolved
Hello Vicki and Tweeters,
I’ve been a wildlife gardener since the mid-90s. We have moved several times, from Virginia to Texas, then to Oregon, and are now in California. Each time we moved, I had to start a new garden. While my perennials/shrubs/trees got established, I would grow annuals to provide for the birds, insects, and other critters. Things that grow fast such as zinnias and cosmos, but perhaps the best annual has been sunflowers. I use the same BOSS (Black-oiled sunflower seed) that I feed the birds in feeders, and it usually germinates and grows quickly, providing food for seed eaters and insectivores, and also a little cover.
Sunflowers provide another bonus for vegetable gardeners. Some gardeners complain that Lesser Goldfinches eat the leaves of their veggie plants. But Lessers also love to eat the leaves of sunflowers. If you plant sunflowers, most likely they will eat those leaves and ignore your garden veggies.
Just a thought,
Lori Markoff
Citrus Heights, CA
From: Tweeters <tweeters-bounces...> On Behalf Of Vicki via Tweeters
Sent: Thursday, April 9, 2026 9:00 AM
To: Tweeters <tweeters...>
Subject: [Tweeters] Native plant issues resolved
Hello,
I just wanted to update on my quest for natives to refill my back bed.
Woodbrook Native Plants in Gig Harbor had a nice selection of what I was looking for. We took our time and they were very helpful.
Thanks for all the responses. My bed will just be ugly for a while. I bought some ninebark, which I’ve been wanting forever, several kinnick kinnick, and found a large salal, which I’d been looking for for years. Plus a few other not so delicate perennial plants. It was really fun. I just hope I don’t lose a lot of birds.
