American Goldfinch eating Purple Coneflower seeds
It can be as simple as encouraging and sharing volunteer plants to hook a brand new wildlife gardener.
I’m always surprised when the “tidy factor” wins and a gardener feels compelled to whack back spent flowers and seed heads and send them off to the compost pile. I bite my tongue, but am deeply puzzled.
Many of us have learned to let the native wildflowers in our gardens go to seed. We’ve observed just how important the seed heads are to hungry birds through the summer, fall, and winter.
New York Ironweed seedling in path
An added bonus is when some of the seeds fall to the ground and volunteers sprout in the garden path – young, sturdy, healthy native plants ready to be potted up and shared, like this New York Ironweed.
Any visiting family member, friend, neighbor, co-worker, or stranger (on one of the formal “Tours of Private Wildlife Gardens” that I lead) benefits from these garden gifts.
I give away hundreds of starter gardens by sharing my seedlings each year, all garden season long. The reward is great. Countless new gardeners have gotten back in touch with me to let me know how my seedling flourished, flowered, and attracted lovely new visitors to their garden. Over time, many of these new gardeners in turn share divisions or seedlings with others . . . all because I didn’t let the “tidy factor” win.
The garden flowers.
It attracts a world of beautiful and fascinating visitors.
The garden goes to seed.
The seed heads feed hungry birds. Some of the seeds disperse.
The standing plants and their seeds offer cover for hidden bugs and other wildlife through winter.
T r y i t a n d s e e
h o w m a n y n e w w i l d l i f e g a r d e n e r s
you can hook!
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Pat, I have been mulling over how to get my natives that volunteer themselves to others who would appreciate them. As I embark on my garden design business this spring, I am renewing my mission to give away one or more to a new designed garden and I will be trying to focus on designing more with natives for wildlife. That is my goal this winter as I work out the plan…you gave me a few more ideas..thx
Donna@ Gardens Eye View recently posted..Friend
Donna, MOST EXCELLENT. You can never have enough natives. So many of my favorites came from friends’ gardens.
Pat Sutton recently posted..The “tidy factor”
Hi Pat, Not only plants but seeds as well..A friend said she wants to start a patch for birds and and butterflies..and as we have snoooow here in N. Illinois to sprinkle the seeds on the snow. Have you heard of this?? I have another question , in the snowy picture of your garden is it all enclosed with a fence or something?? It looks so beautiful even in the winter. Pat S.
Hi Pat, YES sharing seeds is another great way to “hook” potential wildlife gardeners. As to when to disperse those native plant seeds, look at a natural site in your area and see how and when seeds are naturally dispersed. So, YES, spreading them on the snow would simulate natural seed dispersal as winds blow seeds hither and yon.
For years we have had English Setters. They’re runners and diggers (and like to pounce on frogs in ponds), hence the garden fence. Years ago when we put up the outer fence, a chain link fence, that surrounds our 1/2 acre property we made lemonade from lemons by letting it grow up with native vines, creating a living fence. So today, neighbors that are close enough to touch, are hidden from view.
Pat Sutton recently posted..The “tidy factor”
Lovely post Pat! I love the photos with the various birds lost in a sea of seeds. You might see me at times along the road or parking lot gathering a few wildflower seeds. I do so enjoy deriving some of my future plants that way. It feels a bit like thievery sometimes but I would never take more than a few flower heads.
Carol Duke recently posted..Blog Action Day and World Food Day 2011 #BAD11
Hi Carol, thanks so much.
Pat Sutton recently posted..The “tidy factor”
Hi! I have a question. I left all my spent flowers to go to seed for the birds to eat. When do I cut them back to make ready for the spring? It looks kind of forlorn out there but I’m glad I did it. What a variety of birds eating and hanging out in my yard when it’s cold out. We have a woods a few feet down the street where they spend the milder days. Also what is your take on puting safflower seed in the spring for the birds?
Hi Nina, MOST EXCELLENT that you’ve left all your wildflowers standing through the winter. As you’ve noticed, they offer so much food to hungry birds during a stressful time. Also there is a lot of insect life safely wintering over in and on that standing vegetation. Regarding when to cut back last year’s wildflowers, best to wait until spring . . . that way all your standing vegetation continues to offer important cover through a stressful time of year (Winter). I cut my garden back when it warms up in late March and early April through May. By then many things are leafing out and natural cover is available again.
Regarding using Safflower seed, I know many people use to, but I haven’t gone that route. My choices of seeds that I offer in our feeders includes Sunflower hearts and thistle. Then I scatter Millet on the ground for the sparrows.
Pat Sutton recently posted..Mourning Cloaks in the Garden
I have a friend who has asked me to redo her flowerbed. She is a nurse and a student. I plan to transform her high maintenance non-native overgrown, over-run flowerbed to a native bed! It has a southern exposure bed on top of a clay soil hill, so I’ll fill it with prairie type flowers for her! 1 bed at a time; 1 friend at a time!
Dear Woodland Gardener — what a great friend you are to your friend and to wildlife! I’ll bet she’ll be dazzled and soothed by the prairie garden you plan to create for her. Love your motto: 1 bed at a time; 1 friend at a time!
Pat Sutton recently posted..Red Admiral MEGA Migration, May 2012