late sept and cleaning up flower beds. had many many rudbeckias...they reseeded like crazy. while their mass looks lovely in late summer, I needed to clean most out.
on the stems are little bugs. they fly away by the zillions as I worked. question is, I put the pullings in a (*new) compost pile separate from other piles. do the bugs die. do they leave eggs in the soil. do I need to get rid of refuse now. can they compost ok. rather strong stems and have no way of chopping other than sitting on the ground and cutting up with shears. so 2nd question: will they reduce and compost over the winter months.