COlorado Native Plants
Native Plants for Birds
The best way to bring birds into your yard is with native plants and a water source.
We are promoting the installation of Colorado native plants in yards, parks, and other private and public properties to increase bird habitat in the Denver metro area.
Native plants provide everything birds need to survive – shelter, food, space. Having a variety of Colorado native plant species ensures you have food for a diversity of bird types – from seed, to insects, to nectar and berries.
Choose Native Plants for Birds
Bring birds to your home today by growing native plants. Landscaping with Colorado native plants along the Rocky Mountain front range restores bird habitat lost through human development in our urban and residential areas.
Growing bird-friendly plants will attract and protect the birds you love while making your space beautiful, easier to care for, and better for the environment. We can create a huge change in the bird landscape one yard at a time.
Colorado Native Plant Resources
The following nurseries, garden centers, landscape designers, and landscape/lawn companies provide plants and services that support Colorado birds and wildlife. This is not a complete list. We do not endorse these businesses and provide this information only as a resource.
When shopping for Colorado native plants, use the scientific, botanical name. Common names vary from region to region and nursery to nursery and are sometimes also used for non-native ornamental plants of a different species. Example: the North American Linum lewisii could be called Lewis flax, blue flax, or prairie flax, and there is a similar European species that is also called blue flax or prairie flax.
Colorado Native Plants for Denver Landscapes
- For Your Yard: Front Range Plants for Birds
- Native Plants for Birds Handout
- Native Plants for Pollinators Handout
- Colorado Native Plant Society (CONPS) Plant lists for landscaping
- Audubon Rockies Wildlife Friendly Native Plants
- Colorado State University Native Plant Master Resource List
- National Audubon’s Plants for Birds Database. Search by your zip code (no email address required to see the list) to find native plants in your area and the types of birds they are likely to attract.
- Colorado Noxious Weed ID, Colorado Department of Agriculture
Plant Sales, Nurseries,
Garden Centers
- High Plains Environmental Center (Loveland)
- High County Gardens (online sales and shipping only)
- Colorado Native Plant Society (online sale with pickup in Denver, Golden, Colorado Springs) – Spring/summer sales.
- Douglas County Conservation District Native Plant Sale (online sale with pickup in Castle Rock) – Early spring sale.
- Harlequin Gardens (Boulder) – Best selection of Colorado natives, also guaranteed organic and neonicotinoid pesticide free.
- Tagawa Gardens (Centennial/Parker)
- Echter’s Garden Center (Arvada)
- Creekside Gardens (Littleton)
- Highlands Garden Center (Centennial) – Carries some native plant selections
Landscape Designers & Lawn/Garden Maintenance
- All Beings Ecoscapes (design) – Can include Audubon Rockies Habitat Hero certification as part of the design
- Earth Love Gardens (design) – Includes Audubon Rockies Habitat Hero certification as part of the design
- The Green Fuse (design, and eco friendly lawn/garden maintenance)
- Cedar Hill Design (design) – Ask for Colorado native plant design
- Norris Design (design) – Ask for designers who have expertise in Colorado native plant design
- Restorative Landscape Design (design)
- Pears to Perennials (design and eco friendly lawn/garden maintenance)
Click here to view a printable version of our Native Plants for Birds Handout!
