Joe-Pye Weed

Eupatoriadelphus maculatum

Joe-Pye Weed is a towering native that announces itself in late summer with domed clusters of dusty pink-purple flowers rising 5 to 7 feet above the garden. The blooms carry a faint vanilla scent and function like a monarch waystation. when the flowers open in August, you can stand near a plant and count a dozen butterfly species in a single afternoon. It's that effective. The purple-spotted stems are architectural even before bloom, and the seed heads hold visual interest deep into winter. It wants moist to average soil and tolerates part shade, which makes it ideal for the wet edge of a rain garden or the shaded back of a border where nothing else reaches that height. Plant it where you can see it from a window. the late summer show is worth designing around.