Leaving some ‘wild’ for wildlife
About this time of year, I end up feeling a little embarrassed by some of my garden areas. What I’d love is for friends and family to come up the front walkway admiring the beauty. Instead, the former, lovely flowering stuff is now mostly dead; long since gone to seed.
I suppose I could joke that I’m getting an early start on Halloween decorations, since there’s something very “Addams Family” in the raggedy-ness. Shouldn’t I just clear it out? Uh-uh. Not yet. There’s a lot of life left in what looks over-the-hill to the aesthetic eye. So, I leave the dead stuff where it is, because I love seeing birds more than I love getting compliments.
As the cold weather/winter season approaches, we tuck into our houses along with our well-stocked refrigerators. Our only inconvenience might be some ice and snow here and there. What about the wildlife? Some birds migrate to warmer climates where there are fruits and berries growing year-round, along with plenty of plump insects. But many — the seedand nut-eaters — stay here through the winter. What will they find to eat if we deadhead our flowers and leave nothing to forage?
In my garden beds out front, the main bird attraction is the coneflowers (echinacea). Those brown, broken seed heads bring the goldfinches, still wearing their bright plumage. That cheers my heart. It’s a similar thing with the anise hyssop flower stalks. At this point, there are only a few tiny blossoms left on each, so I keep thinking about pruning down the stalks so that the plants look more tidy. But then I notice that the bees are still coming to those flowers. Like the echinacea, aster seed heads end up looking kind of ratty, but I’ll leave those, too, when they finally stop flowering.
Some seed heads are more attractive than others and have what landscape designers call “winter interest.” For instance, the shaggy-headed blossoms of bee balm morph into lovely little vase-shaped structures made up of a collection of tiny tubes. At the base of each is a tiny seed. I don’t know for sure if any birds or other creatures feast on those seeds, but I’m willing to leave them just in case.
I’m aware that my eyes observe only a tiny fraction of what goes on in nature; why should I intervene just to please my own sense of what’s right? Well, like most—if not all—of us, I like things to look beautiful and pleasing. But it doesn’t have to be just one or the other. And, after all this time, I realize that I can change the arrangement, i.e., I can keep the front-of-the-house gardens more tended, and create wilder patches elsewhere on the property. It’s definitely past time to start a new approach. (I share this partly to give you a laugh, since you probably figured this out ages ago.)
Not surprisingly, there are plants you can grow specifically to provide winter food for birds and other wildlife. In his book, “The New Gardening for Wildlife: A Guide for Nature Lovers,” author Bill Merilees lists several “weeds” that are excellent for a wilder sort of wildlife garden:
Milkweeds (perennial)— attract butterflies, particularly monarchs
Dandelion (perennial)— seeds favored by goldfinches and pine siskins
Lamb’s-quarters (annual)—seeds favored by songbirds, such as house finches
Knotweeds/Smartweeds (annual)—seeds favored by songbirds and upland
game birds
Chickweeds (annual)— seeds favored by songbirds
Mullein (biennial)—tall flower stalks hold seeds and shelter small insects above snow.
This is by no means an entire list. Have fun experimenting on your own property with what you can leave to provide fall and winter food, whether you’re gardening in-ground, or on a deck, patio, or window box.
Pam Baxter is an avid organic vegetable gardener who lives in Kimberton. Direct e-mail to pamelacbaxter@gmail. com, or send mail to P.O. Box 80, Kimberton, PA 19442. Share your gardening stories on Facebook at “Chester County Roots.” Pam’s book for children and families, Big Life Lessons from Nature’s Little Secrets, is available on Amazon, at Amazon.com/author/ pamelabaxter.