Creek Bed

171 sq ft, the largest and most species-rich backyard bed · west-facing, sun from about 3 PM to sundown · Floodplain / Riparian edge grading to Mesic Mixed Hardwood · 37 plants

The only bed built from scratch. A gravel-and-stone dry creek, fed by a downspout, runs along the base of the fence. That low band stays wet, and the planted body rises and dries toward the brick edging. Placement follows the gradient: OBL and FACW along the fence, FAC in the middle, FACU on the high edge.

Wet band: cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), soft rush (Juncus effusus), jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides).

Transition and dry body: swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), scarlet bee balm (Monarda didyma), Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica), wild geranium (Geranium maculatum), Walter's violet 'Silver Gem' (Viola walteri 'Silver Gem'), common blue violet (Viola sororia), Ohio spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis), smooth beardtongue (Penstemon calycosus), foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis), woodland stonecrop (Sedum ternatum), heart-leaved aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium), golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea), heart-leaved Alexanders (Zizia aptera), hoary skullcap (Scutellaria incana), blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), hairy alumroot (Heuchera villosa), Appalachian sedge (Carex appalachica), prairie blazing star (Liatris pycnostachya), gray goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis), zigzag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis), Virginia mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum), marginal wood fern (Dryopteris marginalis), wood poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum), wild ginger (Asarum canadense), red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), Jacob's ladder (Polemonium reptans, the straight species plus 'Stairway to Heaven', planted September 19).

Not Ohio native: fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia, US native), yarrow 'New Vintage Red' (Achillea, hybrid, planted September 19).

Failed: winged monkeyflower (Mimulus alatus), Indian pink (Spigelia marilandica), woodland phlox 'Blue Moon' (Phlox divaricata 'Blue Moon'), spring beauty (Claytonia virginica, corms never emerged), Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum). Moved out: meadow phlox (Phlox maculata) to Bed 2.

2026: The channel was corrected from "through the center" to "along the fence," which explains the Joe-Pye loss: a moisture plant sited in the dry body. Winged monkeyflower died where cardinal flower thrives, which marks the wet band's limit. Prairie blazing star bloomed well in the afternoon sun. Two heart-leaved aster plugs went into the dry shaded margin in August. They bloom near-white here, and iNaturalist confirmed the ID. Violet divisions moved to the problem downspout spot during the August rains and took hold.

Next: creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) to replace 'Blue Moon'. Not planned, by choice: turtlehead (Chelone glabra), so the Baltimore checkerspot stays unserved, and gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa), which anchors Bed 9 instead.