My Native Wisconsin Butterfly Garden

The first frost held off long enough for the Sweet Black-Eyed Susan to make an appearance. And then on October 8th, I caught a local butterfly checking out the new plant...

Perennial gardens take patience, and for those lacking in it, a few annuals can fill in the gaps the first year. I chose some lantanas and a purple coneflower already in bloom at a local garden center. The butterflies who stopped by appreciated those additions as well. This photo was taken right before the average first frost to document the growth in one season.

I took some time to make an amateur sketch of my planting layout, taking care to size the drawings for each plant's eventual mature width.  BFI = Blue False Indigo  CB = Columbine  FG = Foxglove  FN = False Nettle  GA = Golden Alexander  HV = Hoary Vervain  LBS = Little Bluestem  OCF = Orange Coneflower  PCF = Purple Coneflower  PMW = Purple Milkweed  PPCF = Pale Purple Coneflower  PV = Prairie Violet  RMW = Rose Milkweed  SBES = Sweet Black-Eyed Susan  SmP = Small's Penstemon  SOG = Sideoats Grama  YCF = Yellow Coneflower