Joe-Pye Weed
Eupatoriadelphus maculatum
Domed pink-purple blooms rise 5 to 7 feet in late summer, faintly vanilla scented and covered in butterflies. Ideal for rain garden edges.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
The single best late-summer monarch magnet in the native plant palette.
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.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown joe-pye weed propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 4–7 ft · 24–36 in wide
- Bloom time
- Summer to fall
- USDA zones
- 4–8
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America, from Quebec to Georgia, west to Nebraska
Care notes for joe-pye weed.
Plant in full sun to part shade in moist to average soil. Cut back by half in late May (Chelsea chop) to keep plants shorter and more compact if height is a concern. Leave seed heads through winter for birds. Divide every 3-4 years in spring to maintain vigor.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside joe-pye weed.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.