Leave Some Flowers For The Birds

Dead-heading will give the plant more energy and resources to produce more flowers, but one thing I consider is whether the bloom that will turn to seed is one that will benefit the birds.

© Donna L. Watkins - American Goldfinch
Eating Coneflower Seeds from Dead Flowers

We have feeders placed around our yard in the summer, but I know that the variety of native flowers have important nutrition for birds that they don't get in the feeders, so I like to leave some seed heads for the birds.

When Fall is drawing near, I leave them all so the migrating birds will have food. They remember where they found food on their last migration so each year we see more and more species because our yard is full of dietary choices.

The migrating and local birds are begging gardeners to do No Deadheading!.

We really enjoy gardening for wildlife.  Here's a couple of links that give you information on which plants birds like so you might choose to plant more that will benefit the birds:

Flowers For Birds
Planting For Birds