Flowers fade, but the show is far from over. Spectacular seed heads offer a second act of beauty, texture and a habitat and food source for wildlife. In our blog post discover plants with stunning seed heads for winter structure which are beautiful and offer nourishment and shelter for wildlife.
“What if the most striking feature of your garden appeared after the petals have fallen?”
Why Leave the Seed Heads On?
Seed heads are architectural forms in autumn and winter time which make silhouettes and can catch frost and snow making them particularly beautiful during the winter months.
They act as essential food for birds like goldfinches and also shelter for beneficial insects in the colder months.
They add a 3rd dimension of both movement and sound from the rattling pods of Aquilegia to rustling ornamental grasses such as Stipa gigantea.
Retaining seed heads means less deadheading and more flower power as the seeds fall on your borders and germinate for next year’s display.
Top Plants for Spectacular Seed Heads
> Architectural Giants: Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) with native, spiky flower heads on strong stems are also an excellent food source for birds like goldfinches. Phlomis russeliana (Jerusalem sage) has whorls of seed pods on vertical stems after the yellow flowers fade.
> Delicate & Airy: Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella) has an airy quality in winter and Honesty (Lunaria annua) with silvery, disc-like seed pods providing translucent beauty.
> Grasses for Movement: Stipa tenuissima (Mexican Feather Grass) is great for fine texture and Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ (Feather Reed Grass) for upright wheat like stems.
> Statuesque Spires: Digitalis (Foxglove) planted in a large group offer a forest of tall and narrow seed heads. The seed heads of the perennial foxglove Digitalis grandiflora tend to last longer than those of the common foxglove, Digitalis purpurea. Verbascum (Mullein) can be a short lived perennial. However they do have tall upright seed heads which offer a vertical accent to your border. They also usually self-seed well, meaning they will keep going from year to year.
> Buttons and Pom Poms: As well as autumn colour, asters provide billows of small, starry seed neads that catch the frost beautifully in polka-dot clouds during winter. Monarda (Bee Balm) has upright, ping pong ball seed heads which gives great winter structure and interest.
Top 5 Scottish Garden Stars
>Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ (Golden black eyed Susan): This is a robust perennial prized for its golden-yellow, daisy like flowers with stricking blackish-brown centres. Once the yellow petals falls in late autumn you are left with distinctive black seed heads. Its flowers attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators, whilst in winter its seed heads provide food for birds like finches, kaing it a valuable addition to wildlife-friendly gardens all year round. It reaches around 60cm in height and prefers a sunny spot.
>Achillea filipendula ‘Cloth of Gold’ (Yarrow): This is another perennial with flattened plate-like heads of deep yellow flowers held high on tall stems, with ferny foliage beneath. Its flat-topped flower heads dry into interesting shapes and can be left on the plant over winter. They are also great for dried flower arrangements. It grows to 120cm in height and prefers a position in full sun.
>Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnum’ (Conflower): This plant has large, deep reddish, daisy-like flowers with prominent dark orange centres which are borne on stiff stems from July to September. After the petals have dropped, the cone like seed heads provide winter structure and food for wildlife. A sun lover growing to 1m tall.
>Eryngium bourgatii (Sea holly): This plant is easily recognised by its ruff of spiky bracts surrounding a prominent, cone-like centre of tiny flowers. Sea hollies make a bold statement in a sunny border, gravel or coastal garden. Their seed heads are architectural, thistle-like structures with metallic blue/silver cones and spiky bracts, providing excellent winter interest and can be dried for flower arrangements. 45cm tall and a sun lover.
> Hydrangea: This As well as having large blue flowers in late summer and early autumn they also have dry, papery seed heads in winter. By leaving the seed heads on the plant over winter, they also give protection to the delicate shoots forming below. Hydrangea should then be pruned when the new growth starts to show in spring. They tend to prefer full or partial shade and come in a variety of sizes depending on the variety.
Designing with Seed Heads
By placing plants in a border so that they are backlit by the low winter sun and can be seen from your window you can create strong outlines and shapes in your garden. Pairing spiky seed heads with softer grasses or evergreen foliage helps to create impact and variation of textures. Allowing plants to self-seed, means they will make spontaneous compositions in your garden. It also means that you can get plants for free in your borders! Using tall bold seed structures in your garden to create focal points during the winter,
How Gerbera Designs Incorporates Seed Heads
We select plants for their whole lifecycle, not just for colour in spring and summer, ensuring your garden has structure and sustenance through the colder months.
We can help you to create a ‘wilder’, nature-friendly space that benefits biodiversity, and design gardens that are beautiful and nurturing for you and local pollinators.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
> Tidying up and deadheading too early will remove winter interest and food for wildlife. Don’t be a neat freak in your garden!
> Choosing cultivars with ‘double’ flowers means that pollinators do not have a food source when they are in bloom.
> Not providing enough support for tall plants, leading to flopping seed heads.
> If it’s a wet autumn, it is best to remove some seed heads so that they don’t become a soggy, messy eyesore in the winter months. Get to know your plants and what works for you.
By selecting plants for their whole lifecycle, not just for colour in spring and summer, it ensures your garden has both structure and sustenance through the colder months. The plants you choose will also help you to create a ‘wilder’, nature-friendly space that benefits biodiversity meaning that your garden is beautiful and nurturing for you and local pollinators.
So if you are looking for beauty beyond the bloom in your garden, don’t deadhead too soon and allow seed heads to offer autumn and winter structure and interest in your garden.
Ready to Embrace the Full Cycle of Beauty?
Read more about designing a garden that looks beautiful in the winter, or let Gerbera Designs create a garden that delights in every season.
Enquire about our garden design and planting design services in Aberdeenshire, or book a consultation to plan a space that celebrates winter structure and sustains wildlife.
