A marriage of beauty + utility
Moving into the gloomiest part of the season, with holidays to cheer us sparse in number and the bitter cold keeping us trapped inside, a gently backlit grass seedhead in the fading winter light can lighten our spirits as we gaze upon the landscape.
A well-executed landscape with multiple seasons of interest keeps the garden relevant and enjoyable, luring us to bundle up and get some fresh air. A winter-minded garden isn't just for our enjoyment, however. Varied seed form and texture in the garden increases diversity in aesthetic and habitat. This wide range of plant life gives food and shelter to a sundry of wildlife and provides much-needed resources to them. The amusement for their human counterparts as they watch the wildlife wander and settle into the garden is just an added bonus.
Below are the top 20 genera of North Creek's favorite grasses and perennials for winter interest and wildlife habitat in the garden.
Note: We deeply considered ranking the plants by how fast wildlife picks them clean in the winter. We then realized there would be a muddle in the middle to the bottom end of grasses and perennials with smaller seed that are less noticeable when they are gone. Instead, the list is much more logical, or rather, alphabetical. If it was ranked by "picked clean, noticed through casual observation", Rudbeckia, Eryngium,Echinacea, and Agastache would be the top four genera, easily.
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