The late boneset not only kept blooming through the August drought, and kept attracting bees in October, it was also an astonishing sight after the first snow.
The seeds, berries and stems of native plants are beneficial to birds and insects all through the winter. Although gardening magazines would have me cutting back everything that isn’t blooming, now I know better. Bugs are nesting in the stems and in the fallen leaves. Birds are using the grasses for insulation in their nests. And while the berries of invasive plants like privet are untouched, the fruits of native plants are sustaining life through the cold months.