Seedheads in the Winter Garden

Come fall, most gardeners feel obliged to pull out spent plants, clean out pots and generally hang up the gardening tools. And while garden clean-up is indeed one of autumn's chores, being a little less diligent about it can actually produce a more attractive winter garden. Even though the blooms are mostly gone by October/November, many perennials move on to another stage of showiness with striking seedheads in a variety of shapes and colors.

Seedheads are the casings that hold the seeds which ensure the continuation of the species. Hard and durable, they form on a plant once you stop promoting new growth by deadheading. Left standing in your containers, as the lush green of summer fades, seedheads create sculptural form and texture against the stark winter landscape. If you don't have any of the following selections already planted in your garden, it may not be too late. Perennials can still be planted in early October in the more temperate parts of the country (about Zone 7 and higher) and will take hold quickly with the warm days and cooler nights.

One of the most common perennials with showy seedheads is the evergreen Sedum 'Autumn Joy', with flat-topped flowers which bloom in late summer and then gradually turn to rusty bronze. Sedums prefer cooler weather and will last well into the winter. Cut them off just above the basal foliage in late winter and fertilize with a slow-release fertilizer between late winter and early spring.

Another head-turner in the winter garden is Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldstrum' or black-eyed Susans. Once the orangey-yellow petals drop, what remains is a slightly fuzzy ebony center which sits atop a two foot stem, impressive in its starkness. Somewhat similar in appearance is the cone-like seedheads of the purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). This native has an orangey-brown central cone, shaped something like a beehive, and it is this cone that turns bristly and lasts well into winter. An added benefit to its aesthetic appeal is its attraction of finches and sparrows who find it delicious.

Other perennials with interesting seedheads include sea holly (Eryngium spp.); Siberian iris (Iris sibirica); scabiosa or pincushion flower (Scabiosa caucasica); and of course the rose, with its plump orange or russet hips. Ornamental grasses also offer texture and drama in the winter garden. Feather reed grass (Calamagrostis acutifolia 'Stricta') has brown flower heads that last until the first snow. Sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), which thrive in damp, shady conditions, have flat maroon seedheads that turn bronze in autumn.

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