As part of a multi-year project, Goodell Gardens & Homestead Trails Committee and volunteers have finished planting wildflowers and native grasses in a portion of the northern acreage on their main campus.
This multi-year project was funded, in part, by a Parks, Fields, & Trails Grant from Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA), aimed at creating nature experiences to enhance wellness and enjoyment of nature.
Goodell Gardens & Homestead Trails Committee, staff, and volunteers worked with Ernst Conservation Seeds to select a customized mix of native grasses and wildflowers to plant on the northernmost portion of the 80-acre Waterford Street property in Edinboro. Together, Trails Committee Chair Randy Walker, the Trials Committee, and Executive Director Amber Wellington worked with Ernst Sales Representative and longtime Goodell Member Peggy Mogush worked together to select custom native seed mixes for the project.
This acreage was former farmland and conventionally farmed for more than a century. To enhance the site to create natural habitat for wildlife and enhance the recently-developed trails system on the property, Goodell Gardens & Homestead worked with Ecological Field Services and Monarch Vegetation Services to plant 36 acres of native grasses in 2023. After a year of allowing the grasses to cold stratify, germinate, and establish roots, approximately five acres of native wildflowers were planted in 2024. The 2024 planting was accomplished in partnership with Centerra Co-op, Crawford County Conservation District, Environmental Remediation & Recovery, and the Montague-Waltz Family.
The project included removing invasive plants, several rounds of re-cultivation of various parts of the acreage, hours of brush-hogging, renting and borrowing equipment, and a great deal of patience.
“While the planting portion of the project has been completed, we’ve learned that native plants – particularly those that require cold stratification – take a significant amount of time to establish,” Executive Director Amber Wellington said. “We’ve spent many hours scouring the field attempting to identify grasses, and anticipate that we won’t see a full bloom of the wildflowers until 2026.”
You can follow the progress of this planting project by visiting the trails at Goodell Gardens & Homestead during the open season: May 1 – October 31, when the trails are open Wednesday – Sunday, 11 am – 5 pm and during special events.
Goodell Gardens & Homestead thanks the following individuals and organizations for their assistance with this project: ECGRA, Ernst Conservation Seeds, Environmental Remediation & Recovery, Monarch Vegetation Services, Ecological Field Services, Centerra Co-op, Goodell Trails Committee current and past members (Randy Walker, James R. Hill, III, Marian Beckman, Mary McDade, Rick Edwards, Eric Johnson, David Darling, II, and Amber Wellington), Derek Waltz, Mike Waltz, Michelle Montague-Waltz, Crawford County Conservation District, Peggy Mogush, Chris Muckinhaupt, Ellery Troyer, Randi Grout, Goodell Gardens & Homestead Board of Directors and Staff, the Edinboro Cemetery Association, and the families who live in households neighboring the Goodell property.
Wildflowers planted include:
Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Common Milkweed (Asclepias Syriaca)
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Anise Hyssop w/ Lavender Flowers (Agastache foeniculum)
Lanceleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata)
Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum)
Marsh Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)
Aromatic Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium)
New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
New York Aster, Albany Pine Bush (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii)
Flat Topped White Aster (Doellingeria umbellata)
Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea)
Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis)
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Orange Coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis)
Yellow Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
Eastern Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)
Oxeye Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)
Tall White Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)
Hairy Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus)
Wild Bergamot, Fort Indiantown Gap (Monarda fistulosa)
Spotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata)
Gray Goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis)
Showy Goldenrod (Solidago speciosa)
Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum)
New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis)
Tall Coreopsis (Coreopsis tripteris)
Narrowleaf Mountainmint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium)
Grasses include:
Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)
Sideoats Grama, Butte (Bouteloua curtipendula)
Virginia Wildrye (Elymus virginicus)
