Joe-Pye Weed, Eupatorium purpureum, is an herb, a wildflower, a butterfly plant and an ornamental for the flower bed. It obtained its name after a Native American herbalist, named Joe-Pye, who 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. The stalks are hollow and will fall over if not sheltered from the wind. It blooms from now till frost.
Joe-Pye is known by the common names Queen of the Meadow, gravel root, kidney root, mist-flower, snakeroot and purple boneset.
Joe-Pye is known by the common names Queen of the Meadow, gravel root, kidney root, mist-flower, snakeroot and purple boneset.
When I redid my garden space this year, my Joe-Pye plants got more space and some are getting really tall. Just a few are blooming right now but you can see the bees love this plant.
