Many people will suggest removing the plants that grew there this year taking nutrients from your soil. These, now dead, plants can be composted, extra work, or can be left in place and covered with the paper and leaves to put those nutrients back into the soil they grew in. The shredded leaf mulches I put down in the fall usually are digested by August and the soil really needs more mulch, and some years I have some to put down while others I don't. If I do have mulch material I will add it but if I don't I don't get overly concerned about it. Shredded leaves will be digested by the soil bacteria sooner then whole leaves would, depending on the tree species, which means the whole leaf mulch will last longer but will not feed the soil as soon and whole leaves are known to keep some plants from growing if they cover them. I add compost to the mulch and do not concern myself with "fertilizer" since the compost and leaf mulches keep the soil in my garden well supplied with necessary nutrients, as periodic soil tests have shown.

For future years you might want to try just collecting a little seed for propagating and leaving the rest standing for the birds and insects. It not only provides food and shelter for wildlife but the dried plant material helps protect the crown of the plant and the soil. I always think the sturdier stems like echinacea are quite pretty with little snow caps on them during the winter. While eating the birds will drop some seed that will germinate too. In the spring you can cut back or pull away the plant debris and chop up some to use as mulch. Too much mulch though and the fallen seeds won't germinate and grow. In the winter use the seed you collected or bought and wintersow them in a weed free potting mix in the proper containers (see the wintersowing forum faq or wintersown.org if unfamiliar with method). They will have much higher germination rates than scattered seed and you can protect them until they are a little bigger and sturdier. Then you can use these seedlings as a guide to help you see what in your wildflower bed is desirable and what is a weed if you aren't familiar with the seedlings. You can use them to plug any holes in the bed or plant them elsewhere if the bed is filling in nicely on its own. This method has worked pretty well for me so far.

Not exactly what you're looking for but if you don't find it, maybe glue this to plain white butcher paper.shelf edge rolls http://cgi.ebay.com/50s-Vintage-Look-Cherry-Red-Polka-Dot-Shelf-Paper-Edge-/230597902435?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0amp;hash=item35b0b4c063 It's out there. Etsy has it. Look at this one! If only I had the glass doors. http://tartdeco.blogspot.com/2010/01/whats-on-sale-vintage-shelf-paper.html Here is a link that might be useful: shades of the 70's!

I recently moved to Florida from NY. I decided to plant a butterfly garden in a large, grassy area. Very hot, full Florida sun all day. My husband, son and I started cutting down all the woody stuff to the ground. I saved all cardboard boxes and laid it all over the area. In Florida, the weeds grow from long tap roots and runners. Very difficult to remove. I smothered them with cardboard, then piled leaves and wood chips (from a tree company). Watered well, let it sit for a few months. I bought some plants in pots and punched holes through the cardboard and planted the plants. Over the next few months I began to plant some seed I started in pots. I also bought some plants which were butterfly friendly and stuck them in. Over this year, the butterfly bushes grew rapidly. The plants grew like weeds. I planted the seedlings I started in deli containers. Over the course of time, I continued to add cardboard and leaves. I pile leaves or woodchips on top. The area is like a wild meadow. The plants have crowded out the weeds, but...I continue to add cardboard and newspaper (NY Times-thickly). I pull weeds occassionally, but the area is basically weed free. I did this over a year. You cannot pull this off without a plan. The weeds will take over and you'll have so much work. Start now, put down cardboard, newspaper to smother the weeds there. Collect leaves and pile them on top. Let it start to rot down and you won't need soil - I didn't. Just keep adding organic matter, start your seeds in flats now. When Spring comes around they will be ready to go in. Sorry this is so long but I am so pleased with the progress I made in less than a year. Jane