From the article: Fall Perennial Gardening: Perennial Plants to Prune in the Fall
Many perennial plants can be cut back in the fall, rather than waiting for the spring. However, some gardeners like to leave certain plants standing, for winter interest and to feed wildlife. What are your favorite plants to leave standing until spring? Share Your Favorites
Cotoneaster
- The bright orange-red berries are so cheerful on a drab wintery day, and glow warmly when lit up at night. They last all season. Just be sure to pull the volunteers or you will have a forest of them.
- —hippyejd
Canna Lilies
- Here in NW, Ar. I have a 4" x 60" Canna Lily bed. When the frost kills off the blooms and the leaves turn brown I simply wait for them to dry and then cut them down and leave them laying for insulation for the bulbs. I also cover them up with grass clippings from my mowing.
- —Guest Steve Keane
Weeping Plants for Winter Interest
- My favorite winter interest plants include anything weeping or contorted such as Harry Lauder's Walking Stick shrub, ginkgo for its soft bark and nubs. For delicacy, Thunburg spirea that blooms on the first 40 degree day in January and cutleaf Japanese maple, as well as spent stems of coneflower, hosta, and iris.
- —Guest Carolyn Roof
All but the Invasives
- I never cut down my plants except invasives.To see goldfinches nibbling seeds from my coneflowers is worth it.I have no bird feeders, yet plenty of birds.
- —Guest jeanX
KALE~~~
- I love to leave the high, almost palm tree-like stalks/leaves of Kale even in an area (Zone 5b) which gets a ton of snow many if not most years!! It gives a very striking resplendance over the flat garden and, with many sizes and even colors, possibilities are endless. If you shake the snow off, you can even hang Christmas lights on them. Enjoy this neat idea. (Oh, and if you want fresh greens, the branches can be broken off and braised, crisped, or steamed with bits of bacon, prosciutto, or (spelling?)other smoked meat in it to add flavor for a winter-fresh treat!
- —gardenerthor
Plants for Winter Interest
- I leave all my cone flowers for the birds. Just this morning I was watching from my kitchen window as six Gold Finches eat seeds from my purple cone flowers. Also, the birds love the the fruit from my viburnums and my Beauty Berry Bush. My Winter Berry Holly is also of great winter interest, with no leaves and lots of red berries for the birds. I also leave my pyracantha until early summer to prune. I have a couple really tall ones against the house that the birds roost and nest in. I made a mistake one fall of pruning it back and did I ever hear about that!!
- —Guest Shelby24019
