Toronto Star

From a bag of bird seed to a bird garden

- Mark and Ben Cullen are expert gardeners and contributo­rs for the Star. Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkCullen­4 Mark and Ben Cullen

Being home with the kids during the pandemic has likely been a series of exercises in discovery.

But here’s one you may not have thought of: a horticultu­ral journey, and it’s as close as a bag of bird seed.

Gather the youngsters around a table, scoop up some mixed bird seed and pour it in a pile where smaller arms can reach. Have them separate the seeds by type, then count how many different kinds of seeds are in the bag. What are they? What kind of birds do they attract?

A sampling of the seeds in our branded Mark’s Choice Bird Feast reveals six different types of seed: 1. & 2. Sunflower and black oil sunflower ( Helianthus). These are the easiest seeds to identify since a lot of kids have eaten sunflower seeds at some point. Striped sunflower seeds are the largest and attract a wide range of songbirds. Black oil sunflower seed, the smaller cousin, contains a concentrat­ion of oil that attracts birds hungry for protein. The shell of this sunflower is less dense than a striped sunflower. Smaller birds can access the meat inside, and the excess of oil is often spread by the bird on its feathers to help give it buoyancy in water. 3. & 4. White and red millet ( Panicum miliaceum). Small, football-shaped seeds are either millet or canary seed. White millet is attractive to songbirds, though many also like red millet. Ground-feeding birds like both. You may notice that millet is often kicked out of your bird feeder, and that many birds retrieve it on the ground. So it is not necessaril­y wasted. Note: avoid a millet look-alike, milo ( Sorghum bicolour), found in some cheap blends. It is almost twice the size of millet. Milo is harvested from the sorghum plant. Most songbirds do not like it. Corn is another filler seed that most birds are not too fussy about. 5. Canary seed ( Phalaris canariensi­s) originally grew in the Canary Islands, though it is commonly fed to pet canaries. The seed is distinguis­hed by its white colour and oblong shape, as opposed to white millet, which is about the same size but rounder. Small songbirds like finches, nuthatches and juncos enjoy canary seed. 6. Peanuts. Loaded with protein, unsalted — always! — peanuts are commonly used in quality bird seed mixes. They are not cheap, but good food often isn’t. Many birds are attracted to peanuts, including all woodpecker­s. What does bird seed grow up to be? Sow your bird seed to create a bird garden. Each one of these seeds will grow, other than peanuts, which are usually blanched when you buy them. Sunflowers will grow up to four metres high while the canary seed will produce a plant that looks a lot like foxtail grass. Millet is a tall, prairie grass that will reach about 60 to 80 centimetre­s. If you label them at the time of planting, you and your kids will learn where bird seed comes from.

Either direct-sow into the garden or into small pots indoors. All bird-seed plants love sun. Allow the plants to flower and the seed to dry on the plant and you might get some interestin­g birds foraging in your garden this fall.

More plant-related projects: Cut a potato into several pieces with at least one “eye” on each section. Plant each section into a small pot, water and place in a sunny window. You should see growth in a week to 10 days. Once it has filled the pot, plant it outdoors in a sunny location and harvest when the plant is in full bloom in early summer.

Speaking of flowers: This is the perfect time of year to take cuttings from forsythia, pussy willow, and red and yellow twig dogwood. Place each cutting, minimum 60 cm to one-metre long, into a pail of water and wait for them to bloom. After blossoming, the cuttings will push new roots where the stem contacts water. When the roots are 30 to 40 cm long, plant them in your garden. Note that Pussy willow ( Salix) is an aggressive plant that may not be suitable for your yard.

Back to birds: Remember to take the time to watch birds — for the next two months, they are mating and building nests to start families. Enjoy their songs right now when they’re in peak mating form.

 ?? DREAMSTIME ?? A dark-eyed junco looks over a feast of protein-rich seeds. Little juncos are among the birds who will pick the ground for seeds that others kick out of bird feeders.
DREAMSTIME A dark-eyed junco looks over a feast of protein-rich seeds. Little juncos are among the birds who will pick the ground for seeds that others kick out of bird feeders.
 ?? MARKCULLEN.COM ?? This bag of bird seed has six types of seeds — black oil sunflower, striped seed sunflower, peanuts, red millet, white millet and canary seed.
MARKCULLEN.COM This bag of bird seed has six types of seeds — black oil sunflower, striped seed sunflower, peanuts, red millet, white millet and canary seed.
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