Seeds of winter joy

THE Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf wrote that a plant is only worth growing if it looks good when it is dead. Behind his hyperbole is the truth that what remains of many herbaceous plants, particularly their seedheads, can be captivating and will bring beauty into the garden even during the most desolate winter days. It is cheering to stare out the window to admire a scene created from the framework of stems and seedheads — a scene that will be enlivened when hungry birds arrive to feed on the seeds.

Tall spires for impact

In the absence of flowers