All You Can Eat!

I was in the backyard yesterday morning after work deadheading and collecting seeds when I saw a sudden flash of color out of the corner of my eye. I whirled around and saw it land: a goldfinch. He had been sampling the purple coneflower heads in the Purple Garden then moved on to the ones in the Cosmos Garden.

I have heard that goldfinches are partial to large seedheads like these, but this is the first time I have witnessed it. That is partly my fault. I am usually pretty good at getting rid of dead and dying flowers but it has just been so hot this summer that I have been neglecting a lot of clean-up chores.

Needless to say, I will be leaving the dead flowers on the Purple Coneflowers and the Black-Eyed Susans in hopes that the word will get around the goldfinch community that the buffet is open in my garden.