Finch Mix Garden Kit

Nature's bird feeder! Promote natural feeding behaviors and healthy, pesticide-free diets for our native birds. Most finches are seed specialists, so this kit is heavy on seeds, but finches also often feed their young aphids, caterpillars, spiders, and other insects. They eat seeds, fruits, and insects and then regurgitate the soup for their babies. Native plants make a natural bird feeder, offering insects during the nesting season, and holding seeds above the snow for winter. The plants included for seed have a variety of forms for many different feeding styles and beak shapes, from grosbeaks to goldfinches.
 
Our Finch Mix Garden Kit provides natural food, nest material, and shelter based on Audubon native plant recommendations for UP finches. These 38 native plants come pre-arranged in the tray so you can plant them just as they are for an instant garden design, or, since each plant is labeled with plant name and height, you can arrange them to suit your space.
 
This Finch Garden is designed for average garden soil and full to part sun. It will contain 2 to 5 of each species, usually of the following mix of plants, but one way we keep the per plant costs low on garden kits is by reserving the right to substitute plants based on our current inventory. Your kit may differ from the list below in exact species, but the plants included are guaranteed to meet the stated goals, in this case, offering a variety of natural foods for finch species. If you need specific plants for your garden goals, consider supplementing your garden kit with quarts:
 
Native Sunflower (perennial) - large seeds and insect host plant,
Prairie Dock or Cup Plant - large seeds and insect host plant,
Purple Coneflower - finch seed favorites, 
Pale Purple Coneflower - finch seed favorites,
New England Aster or other aster - seeds and insect host plant,
Blazing Star - medium seeds,
Goldenrod - small seeds that persist into the winter and insect host plant,
Black-eyed Susans - mid-season seeds, aphids,
Common or Rose Milkweed - seeds, insects, nest material,
Lance Leaf Coreopsis - early season seeds,
Switch Grass, Indian Grass, or Little Bluestem - seeds, insects, nest material, and shelter,
Early Fen Sedge or Path Rush - seed variety,
Joe Pye Weed or Pale Purple Plantain - profuse seeds and insects.
 
If substitutions are necessary, they may include any of our Sunflowers, any of our asters, any of our Blazing Stars, other sedges, Compass Plant, Cutleaf Coneflower, Sideoats Grama, Prairie Dropseed, Big Bluestem, Sweet Black-eyed Susan, Evening Primrose, Sundrops, Common Yarrow, or others. These plants are also recommended if you wish to expand your Bird Garden. 
 
This economical kit includes 38 plant plugs that fill 50 square feet at 1-foot spacing - a 5'x10' bed (with 8" border); or up to 86 square feet at 1.5 sq. ft. spacing - a 6'x14' bed. Note that this kit features some of our larger plants or vigorous spreaders to maximize bird resources. While we normally recommend 12" spacing or less, 18" average spacing may be preferable for this kit.
 
Each kit comes with a planting guide as well as instructions for placing a perch and creating a bird bath. The plants are individually tagged for identification and all tags include height so you can alter the layout to suit your space.  
 
We recommend pairing this kit with native shrubs. Native shrubs provide all-important cover and nesting habitat between the tree canopy and the flower/grass layer. Native shrubs host many insects that serve as food for birds and nestlings. And, most provide berries or seeds that are used by finches to survive the winter or fuel migration. Planting shrubs native to the Upper Peninsula will ensure that they leaf out, flower, and produce fruit/seeds at the appropriate time to match our birds' seasonal rhythms. Our favorite picks are Ninebark, Black Elderberry, Meadowsweet, Chokeberry, Thimbleberry, Bunchberry, Woodbine, Winterberry, Limber Honeysuckle, Fly Honeysuckle, or Northern Bush Honeysuckle, available separately. Also, don't forget to stock your forest edge or shade garden with forbs or that sport berries for birds: Red and White baneberry, Sarsaparilla, Spikenard, Starry and False Solomon Seal, Solomon Seal, Wild Strawberry, Blue-bead Lily, Canada Mayflower, or White Twisted Stalk.