Doing Something Right!

 

Here's a view of our Long Border. I admit to yanking a few deceased annuals from its ranks and I think Bob chopped down a couple of Eupatorium (Joe Pye Weed) stalks that had fallen over, but it's pretty much left to it's own devices until next early spring. I always allowed for a certain gardening laziness that creeps over me by late summer. Early September finds me shrugging and suggesting it's too late to prop things up or edit and reorganize. 

Yup! That's me casting a long shadow on a kind of unsightly aster clump (the cultivar "Purple Dome" a half tall variety.) And while I admit to an unwillingness to walk back to the house and get pruners to remove the desiccated remains I also suspected that the seeds were possibly good food for birds. And I was right!

I just read an article in The Connecticut Gardener (#1) that confirmed my thoughts and applauded my laziness. The authors of the article in question averred that insects (hopefully beneficial) nest in the hollow stems and birds do indeed feed on seeds left behind. 

(This grass (Miscanthus sinensis) makes me look tiny; it IS tall and the inflorescenses look good all winter- until an ice storm beats them down!) So I've been vindicated in my waiting 'til next spring to clean up. Yes, sometimes when we get a warm February day, Robin the Good and I get out and start cutting down things that look particulary rough. Some plants don't age gracefully!

Here's another very poofy grass; I think this is one looks rather nice with the late day sunlight hitting the tufts. So... lesson learned: don't be in such a big fat rush to tidy up. There's plenty of time ahead to do that and the birds and bees will thank you!

(*1) The Connecticut Gardener is a really good resouce for all manner of garden information. Please consider subscribing! And I don't just say that becasue I write the occasional column for it!!