I have always heard that finches love purple coneflower seeds. This year I didn't deadhead the flowers and saw quite a lot of gold finches eat the seeds :-). My question is should I keep seedheads over the winter? Are there still any seeds left on the seedheads?
You can leave them if they haven't eaten them all.
They look very messy and I cannot tell if there are still any seeds left on them. Oh well. I will keep them for the birds.
Donner, I have wondered the same thing myself. I can't tell if the birds are still getting anything from them either. I guess if you sit and watch the birds you can see if they are still feeding at certain seed heads. I jut let mine up till I can't stand the way they look and then go cut them. I do have feeders as well but I like having plants that the birds like. I know the small birds like my perilla so I always let that go to seed and stand for quite awhile before I pull it.
Someone, here on DG I believe, said that having some stems remaining above ground, rather than cutting the plant o the ground, helps protect the roots from freezing and thawing temperatures. Right now mine look scruffy, and the goldfinches don't seem to be bothering with them, but I remember last winter they were on my agastaches during some really cold days, so I'm leaving both them and the cones,
Yes, Having some stem left will protect the crown also they catch leaves another insulator. Plus it makes it easier in the spring to help ID my plants. I always leave about 6 inches of stem when I cut them back.
Speaking of IDing plants, I normally take photos of the garden in the summer time so that I know where everything is. The problem is that I take photos and file them somewhere and can never remember where that "somewhere" is :-). LOL.
