This is somewhat of a depressing time of year for me. My Echinacea and Rudbeckia are looking ragged and have gone to seed. The Blackberry Lily (Belamcanda chinensis) seedpods have split open, and while the berries are fascinating, there aren’t any more beautiful leopard-spotted flowers left. Part of me wants to attack the garden with the pruning shears and deadhead everything. BAM!
But, as the song says, to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose…
Finches are in LOVE with our Echinacea. We’ve had several American Goldfinch visitors in the last couple of weeks – two males and a female this afternoon. They seem to prefer the Echinacea seed heads over the feeder with the fancy seed.
I spotted a hummingbird in the Agastache ‘Apricot Sprite’ this afternoon. At first I only caught it out of the corner of my eye, but it kept coming back for more. I think they like the Zinnia too, which is great because the Zinnia just keep blooming their heads off. I imagine that’s why the butterflies keep hanging around.
Maybe instead of worrying about what the plants look like, I should accept what is, and revel in the beauty of the birds and other wildlife that have chosen to grace our yard. I can also think ahead to planting more plants for the birds next year, and to planting more fall-blooming plants. To everything, there is a season!
I've noticed lots of goldfinches by my spent coneflowers too. what a sight to see them flying in and out of the garden!
I would swear that you took your finches photo in my yard. The same thing happens here with the coneflowers every year.