Gillette's Habitat Garden111 sq ft in five small planting areas enclosed by concrete · full sun, house shade from about 3 PM · FACU to FAC · Dry-Mesic Prairie (CEGL002150) · 38 plants, closed to new species
The property's full-sun prairie showpiece. Full sun is scarce here, so this bed was loaded with sun-dependent prairie species on purpose, accepting density as the trade-off. It's a working monarch nursery (5+ caterpillars at once in 2025) and hosted black swallowtail caterpillars on the golden Alexanders in May 2026.
In the ground: common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea), wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), garden phlox 'Jeana' (Phlox paniculata 'Jeana'), dense blazing star (Liatris spicata), dwarf blazing star 'Kobold' (Liatris spicata 'Kobold'), purple coneflower 'Magnus' (Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus'), red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium), oxeye sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides), black-eyed Susan 'Goldsturm' (Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii), Ohio goldenrod (Solidago ohioensis), New England aster 'Purple Dome' (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae 'Purple Dome'), heath aster 'Snow Flurry' (Symphyotrichum ericoides 'Snow Flurry'), smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve), hairy beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus), foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis), Bicknell's sedge (Carex bicknellii), Ohio spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis), wild petunia (Ruellia humilis), great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), bird's-foot violet 'Eco Artist Palette' (Viola pedata 'Eco Artist Palette'), blue-eyed grass 'Lucerne' (Sisyrinchium angustifolium 'Lucerne').
Not Ohio native: blue sage (Salvia azurea, US native), threadleaf coreopsis 'Zagreb' (Coreopsis verticillata 'Zagreb', US native), sunset hyssop (Agastache rupestris, US native), yarrow 'Oertel's Rose' (Achillea millefolium 'Oertel's Rose', hybrid), goldenrod 'Little Lemon' (Solidago 'Little Lemon', hybrid), catmint 'Walker's Low Junior' (Nepeta x faassenii, hybrid), woodland sage 'Caradonna' and 'May Night' (Salvia nemorosa, non-native), English lavender 'Munstead' (Lavandula angustifolia, non-native), ornamental onion 'Millennium' (Allium, hybrid), sedum 'Autumn Joy' (Hylotelephium, non-native).
Out in 2026: whorled milkweed (lost), pink evening primrose (removed), blanket flower 'Arizona Sun' (Gaillardia, didn't return; the spot is too moist).
2026: Prairie dropseed, 'Goldsturm', blue sage and 'Purple Dome' all flopped from excess fertility in compost-amended clay, so the bed is now mulch-only. 'Purple Dome' reached about 3 ft wide and tall.
Next: move prairie dropseed to Bed 2 (spring 2027). Option: swap sunset hyssop for native anise hyssop (Agastache nepetoides).