This Joe Pye Weed towers over my pond.
Usually it's quite a mecca for butterflies but not this year. Butterflies are scarce around here.
These two yellow swallowtails were the only ones juicing up while I took photographs.
The Joe Pye who gave his name to this plant was a Native American herbalist. Joe Pye, his anglized name, healed early colonists and taught them to use local plants. He used extracts of this particular plant to reduce fevers accompanying typhoid and other diseases. (Source: A Year Across Maryland: A Week-by-Week Guide to Discovering Nature in the Chesapeake Region by Bryan MacKay)
I love butterfly plants. We just planted some milkweed near our house for the Monarch butterflies. You photos are beautiful, as usual!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your photos. I have heard about the Joe Pye plant but have never seen one. We need to plan to add it to our garden. Like you, we have had very few butterflies this year, especially the Swallowtails that we usually enjoy. They normally lay their eggs on our Marshall Seedless Ash tree. I am wondering if our lack of butterflies has anything to do with the abnormally cold winter we had. No matter what the reason, I miss them!
ReplyDeleteI see that plant when we travel --and have some great pictures of it. I had no idea what its name is...So --maybe I'll remember Joe Pyle now... Thanks, Marcia.
ReplyDeleteI'll post a blog tomorrow --on our recent trip to North Carolina. I turned 72 last Tuesday.
Hugs,
Betsy