Plant of the Month
Eupatorium maculatum
Any plant with the word “weed” in its name has a marketing problem. But consider the glorious Eupatorium maculatum: towering over other perennials, topped with a poufy rose-pink flowerhead; a high-rise dining establishment; a “Rainbow Room” for the insect world. Otherwise known as Joe Pye Weed. Yep, “weed”.
It's a must for native plant gardens, butterfly gardens, and rain gardens. Eupatorium maculatum provides food for pollinators throughout the northeast, including parts of Canada, and the mid-Atlantic states. In my garden, Monarchs and Tiger Swallowtails are regulars. Hummingbird Clearwing moths dart from floret to floret. Honeybees visit as soon as the flowers open and fat yellow bumblebees sleep face-down in the flowers overnight.
Because Eupatorium maculatum grows naturally in moist areas this plant is perfect for rain gardens. It’s adaptable, being able to withstand flooding and periods of drought. A design hint – use a shorter variety of Eupatorium, like ‘Little Joe’ or ‘Baby Joe’ in a smaller garden to keep things in scale.
On lazy summer roadtrips, I would pass stands of Joe Pye Weed growing wild along the roads in Pennsylvania. It was happiest near a stream, but robust-looking anywhere, as long as it was in full sun. Joe Pye Weed gives a garden a sense of place: it’s native to our area, so it adds to the “genius loci”, the pervading spirit or atmosphere typical of our landscapes. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genius_loci. Alexander Pope, an 18th century English poet, may have coined the phrase with regard to landscape design.) With its imposing height, 8’-10’, Joe Pye Weed provides a kind of architecture to the garden. The dried flowers add a dreamy haze of brown to a fall garden, so I leave mine up as long as decently possible.
Be warned: this dazzling perennial seeds itself joyously. If I were a sensible gardener, I would cut off the flowerheads as soon as the bees have had their fill and the flowers are spent. But I am not a sensible gardener, and I love that Piet-Oudolf-meadow-in-autumn look, so I leave the spent flowers up and let the seeds scatter with the winds. Next spring and summer, I grumble as I pull Joe Pye Weed out of the roses and peonies and spirea. And I vow to cut the flowerheads off again. You know how it goes…
What you need to know:
Hardiness: Zone 4-9
Exposure: Full sun
Water needs: keep soil moist, grows natively in damp areas
Height: can reach 10’, but smaller varieties are widely available in nurseries
Maintenance requirements: low
Deer resistance: deer could damage this plant http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c700
Propagation: Divide clumps in spring, or collect seeds in fall and direct sow where desired.
Pruning: Eupatorium maculatum can be cut back in early to mid-May to control for height, prevent possible flopping, and slightly delay bloom time. Cut back stem to a lower leaf node. Within a few weeks, new stems emerge in a five-pointed array around the stem, creating a fuller-looking plant with smaller flowerheads. Otherwise, cut back after a killing frost.
Varieties to look for: E. ‘Gateway’ is said to be more compact than the straight species. E. ‘Little Joe’, 4’ tall. E. ‘Baby Joe’, 3- 3 ½’ tall. E. rugosum ‘Chocolate’, dark purple stems and foliage, white flowers.
Additional notes: Joe Pye is a mysterious figure in American history, may have been a Native American medicine man, said to treat typhoid fever with this widely distributed perennial.
