Yesterday at the Partners for Native Landscaping workshop, there was significant discussion about leaving last year’s growth & plant stalks with spent flower heads through the winter for multiple wildlife purposes. One reason is that bugs, including some of our best pollinators, use them for nesting/overwintering sites. One other, which I was tickled to see in serious action today, is to feed the birds.
This morning, I heard some chatter and tweeting outside. I looked out my bedroom window to see multiple Juncos going after my Switch Grass seed heads sticking out of the snow as well as a Goldfinch, perched an old stalk of Blue Sage pecking at the old flower heads for seed.
We can landscape for year-round interest in our yards, and part of this interest can include the bird activity that many native plants are sure to invite.
