Spotted Joe-Pye Weed
Eutrochium maculatum
The tallest Joe-Pye: purple-spotted stems to eight feet topped with dusty pink domes swarming with butterflies in August. Built for moist sites.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 208 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 218 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 228 AM – 2 PM
The tallest, most architecturally dramatic Joe-Pye Weed. purple-spotted hollow stems to eight feet, massive pink flower domes in August, and monarch butterfly attraction that rivals any native perennial.
Hollow Joe-Pye Weed is the tallest of the genus and one of the most architecturally impressive native plants you can grow. The sturdy, hollow purple-spotted stems (the source of its common name) can reach eight feet in good moist soil, topped with massive domed clusters of dusty pink flowers that are visible from a distance and swarming with butterflies in August. The purple spotting on the stems is ornamental in its own right: no other native has quite that combination of height, stem color, and flower massing. It's an authentic moist-site plant, preferring stream margins, rain gardens, and low wet spots where it can fully express its height. Use it as a back-of-border anchor or a screening element in a large naturalistic planting. The combination of its height, monarch attraction, and late-season interest makes it one of the most ecologically productive native plants per square foot of garden space.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown spotted 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
- Moist
- Mature size
- 5–8 ft · 36–48 in wide
- Bloom time
- August–September
- USDA zones
- 4–9
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America. moist meadows, stream banks, and wet woods from Maine to Michigan south to Florida and Texas
Care notes for spotted joe-pye weed.
Plant in full sun to part shade in consistently moist to wet, fertile soil. Hollow Joe-Pye Weed requires more consistent moisture than the sweet species. Cut back by one-half in late June to produce shorter, more compact plants if height is a concern. Divide every four to five years in spring. Leave old stems standing through winter for insect habitat and structure. Plant where height is an asset rather than a problem.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside spotted 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’.