By Calvin R. Finch
Guest Columnist

It has been an exceptionally hot dry summer. So hot and dry that our vacant lots and shrub borders are not as full of weeds as is normal. One family of plants, however, that seems to be prospering in the hot weather is sunflowers.

There is a large selection of sunflowers from the dwarf pastel colored versions that we plant in the annual flower bed to the mammoth Russian sunflowers that grow to 8 or 9 feet tall with flower heads the size of dinner plates.

Many of the sunflowers produce seeds that attract finches and other birds. Sunflowers have a double bang for the effort you put into growing them. They produce showy blooms and they attract birds to the garden or your vacant lot.

Not that it is hard to grow sunflowers. Anyone with a bird feeder knows that the seeds germinate readily if any escape the feeding cardinals and chickadees. The germination rate is almost 100 percent if the seeds are covered with a quarter- to a half-inch of soil and the soil is wetted with a wand at planting and every three days for two weeks.

Fertilizer is not necessary, but full sun is. Plant sunflowers where they get eight to 12 hours of sun for best results.

All sunflowers are easy to grow, but if you want a native sunflower that naturalizes on any sunny vacant lot, consider Maximilian sunflowers. They have flowers that are three inches across on a shrubby plant that grows 6 or 7 feet tall and 3 feet wide.

Maximilian sunflower is not a disciplined plant for manicured landscapes. It quite often is described as “weedy.” Maximilian does, however, produce lots of blooms that in turn produce many seeds that the birds love.

In a vacant lot in my neighborhood, a small thicket of the prolific sunflowers attract a flock of lesser goldfinches every evening and house finches, Inca doves, and cardinals on a regular basis. Occasionally, painted and indigo buntings will visit the plants.

A planting of sunflowers will attract birds to your garden or vacant lot during a hot dry summer. Equally effective as a bird attractant is to provide a source of water. Bird baths can be works of art, but they do not need to be to accomplish the job of providing water to thirsty birds.

The usual bird bath constructed of cement or plaster does the job admirably. The birds perch on the edge of the reservoir for a drink and they can cool off or clean themselves by stepping into the bowl and splashing in the shallow water.

The bird bath can be even more attractive to birds if there is running water. The wild bird supply stores and nurseries offer re-circulating pumps that do a good job.

Here are several guidelines to consider when you select and place your bird bath:

With our high evaporation rates and with bird use the baths will dry out every day. Place the bird bath where it can be rinsed and refilled easily every day.

Wet birds are especially vulnerable to predators. Have the bird bath close enough to a shrub or small tree so the bathing birds can flee to cover from hawks. But not so close that cats can launch an attack from the base of the cover. About 6 feet away seems ideal.

For best acceptance from the birds, provide a shallow bird bath. They will drink from a deep reservoir, but swimming is not their thing. Baths of 2 inches or shallower seem to attract the most birds.

Honey bees will be attracted to the bird bath. Hives can get desperate for moisture in hot dry summers. Between diseases, mites, and other afflictions, bee populations are under siege and it is important that we do everything we can to support the reduced populations. Let them share the bird bath. Bees do not drink much.

Calvin R. Finch, Ph.D., is a horticulturist and the director of water resources for the San Antonio Water System.