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JOE PYE WEED
Eupatorium purpureum
Joe-Pye Weed, Eupatorium purpureum, is an amazing plant that is an herb, a wildflower, a but-terfly plant and an ornamental for the flower bed. It obtained its name after a Native American herbalist, named Joe-Pye, cured fevers using the Eupatorium plant. Though we tend to think of it as a wildflower in the U.S., it's long been an ornamental plant in England where cottage gardens are so popular. Joe-Pye is perky and full of blooms when many other plants are finished and it lasts until hard frost. Place it in the back of the border or give it a cor-ner all its own in a sunny, fertile position. Joe-Pye does best when it's placed in a moist location, but it will adapt to a dryer location, even though it won't do its best. If you enrich the soil with organic matter and keep it watered, it should do fine.
If you have a butterfly garden, then Joe-Pye a must-have plant! The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Great Spangled Fritillary, Pearl Crescent, Monarch, and the Tawny-edged Skipper are just some of butterflies known to love Joe-Pye. It's a perennial that can be divided every 2 years. The stalks are hollow and will fall over if not sheltered from the wind. They will look neater if they are staked early. Pinch back Joe-Pye plants in the early summer it will help them grow a little shorter and bushier. They bloom July through October or till frost.
