Do you see a mess, left due to a lazy gardener? Do you see winter interest, beautiful seed heads and shades of brown contrasting wonderfully with the backdrop of snow? (All photos in this post were taken through window glass, some at a sharp angle -- so colors are a bit off at times)
I'm definitely in the second camp, but what I see right now is a big bird banquet!
So many different types of seeds left for the winter seed eaters to forage: the juncos, finches, sparrows, and more.
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| They love the Echinops, but I wish they wouldn't drop so many seeds! |
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| The Agastache foeniculum seed heads dominate, in a good way! |
I even saw them eating the little bluestem seeds:
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| Wish I could have captured more of the color of this great little grass! |
Beautiful and bountiful, I can't imagine being one of the gardeners who must clean up everything as soon as the colder temperatures arrive.
What would I look at? What would the birds eat?
Over the holidays I was at my Mom's in the Chicago area, and her little garden was clean, completely cleared of anything that was brown. No grasses, no seeds, nothing to look at. Pretty much just bare soil. Sigh.
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I love that you've intentionally left all of these seed heads and grasses for winter interest and wildlife foraging! They look so nice against the snow. Thank goodness for slothful gardeners like us!
ReplyDeleteBirds! Great post
ReplyDeleteI look at the birds and wonderful winter garden. The goldfinch likes the cosmos seeds when they grew here.
I'm not in the "cleanup at all cost" camp either :-).
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the birds appreciate all the food! Especially with snow, I think it's better to leave all the grasses and such for winter interest, otherwise its just all white!
ReplyDeleteI see beauty...lovely golden plants drying and full of seeds.I see very grateful birds : )
ReplyDelete