The great advantage to being a slovenly gardener is the chance to see the local wildlife using your plants long after they have died. A mixed flock of resident finches passed through recently, feeding on seeds from neglected flower corpses.
This American Goldfinch was munching on Purple Coneflower seeds.
a seldom-studied, but diagnostic view of a male House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
A Bewick’s Wren often hunts for insects in the dead leaves of the clematis, but I doubt he will ever sit still long enough for a photograph.
Ethical Birder 