it has been increasingly popular in the UK to leave all the old faded perennials until spring. Garden mags generally show photos of sere but architectural icescapes of hoarfrost on the heads of sedum, echinaceas and rudbeckias, grasses, asters and so on. For a couple of years, I too tried this leaving alone, only for my garden never to look remotely like a magazine shoot....and if, for some reason, it fleetingly managed it, I would definately not be around to see it in the dawn light - hoar frost is what I want to see on the outside of my windows after being up all night. At any rate, by the end of October,my garden is a collapsing, floundering heap and I am bored and fed up and really want to pull everything out, plant bulbs and think about next year(which will be better than this year). Even so, there are always a few strays, particularly on my allotment, which is altogether wilder, and echinaceas are the most likely to hang around. Your goldfinches might not be the same as our goldfinches but the top plant, for leaving over winter, as both a food source and an interesting seedhead are teasels (dipsacum something?) I like your arrangement of heads, e.maniac - I now may actually try something more artful than just adding to the towering compost pile (although I do hang the sunflower heads on top of the chainlink around my allotment).

I don't know about the tithonia, this is the first year I have grown it. But if you enjoy watching the birds, the goldfinches love hanging from the sunflowers and eating those all summer long. They start when the seeds are just forming. They also like the native heliopsis I have. They eat the flower petals on that one too.

I Love (AND USE!!!) this method and this article from this website explains it SO MUCH easier/simpler than I could!! Good Luck Everyone and Enjoy!!... PROPAGATING ECHINACEA Echinacea plants are good about self sowing as long as you leave a few of the last flowers to dry up naturally. When weeding the garden in spring, watch for tiny coneflower seedlings. They can be nurtured where they are, but since Mother Nature doesn't always plant her seeds exactly where we want them, you will probably want to move them to a better location. You can also harvest the seeds to use next year. Choose a few fully mature and ripened flower heads, and cut them, leaving a nice long stem. Hang the flowers upside down with the flower heads enclosed in paper bags. This will allow them to release their seeds into the bag when they are ready. Once the seeds have fallen, remove the chaff (plant debris) and spread the seeds out on a newspaper for 10-12 days to finish drying. They will keep in the refrigerator in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid for up to a year. This is an easy way to keep a ready supply of seeds for yourself and to exchange with other gardeners. The only trick is to make sure you have a fully mature flower head so that you will harvest mature, viable seeds. From: GardenGuides.com GREAT HUH?? ;o)

I still have some, just not as many as usual. Yesterday at work I was talking to a friend and we were discussing our flowers and tomatoes. I live on the west side of town while she lives on the east side. We weren't talking about birds at all and out of the blue she said "I've never seen as many goldfinches as this year". I guess she got my birds this year. As long as my hummingbirds don't leave me, I'll be happy. Karen