Let it be

We have a small yard with several mini-prairie patches, each harboring grasses and forbs including black-eyed Susan, purple coneflower, big bluestem, several goldenrod species, northern sea oats, bee balm, and many others.

A perfectly kept garden often requires trimming and cutting back seedheads for the winter. We leave everything until mid-spring and have been rewarded with scenes of birds feasting on the seeds.

American goldfinches love the seeds of coneflowers, and we'll often see them right from our screened-in porch window, clinging to the plant and pulling out the morsels. In November, my sister watched as black-capped chickadees plucked seeds from redbud. If you want a garden that's for the birds, plant native trees, grasses, and shrubs and let them be over the winter. And consider leaving piles of branches and leaves for rabbits to nest in, and for butterfly larvae to overwinter in. Here are some native Midwestern plants that provide seeds for birds and other critters.

• black-eyed Susan
• purple coneflower
• sunflower species
• American redbud
• oak trees
• maple trees
• hackberry trees
• bee balm
• northern sea oats
• big blue stem