Joe Pye Time in the Pond Garden

Joe Pye weed is blooming in the woods in PA.  Spotted this stand while hiking in Hills Creek State Park.

At home my Joe Pye weed is a bit taller.

It hangs over the pond which is buried in greenery.

Black eye-susans are also in bloom.

Here's a younger stand of Joe Pye weed, seeded from the parent plant.

Miscanthus grass and foxtail are sizable at this point in the summer.

Here's my study window and the photo following the wild scene I view.

A great change from this earlier this spring.

It's Joe Pye Time!

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)

Wordless Wednesday - Butterflies Too Numerous to Count

Wordless Wednesday

Friday Favorite - Joe Pye Weed

I love this native perennial especially at this time of year when it comes into its own with its blooms. The Joe Pye weed has a very prominent location atop the pond aka rain garden bank.  I've tried transplanting volunteers to other locations in the yard but unsuccessfully.  It must like having its root nice and damp.  Thankfully its blooms and height don't conflict with the weigla which is planted behind it.  Those springtime blossoms have their time to shine and then form a backdrop for Joe Pye.

 It becomes quite the butterfly and bee magnet.There are mid air fights, if you can call them that, between butterflies vying for the same spot.  Quite comical to see because there are more than enough blooms for them all.

It's pale blossoms are a nice contrast to the crepe myrtle across the driveway.

This year the Joe Pye is not standing as tall as in previous years.  

The derecho we had in late June took a toll and then once the blooms formed the weight of those has weighed down the stalks.  But I can't complain.  It's still a favorite on this Friday in August especially when viewed from the porch.

Linked to Our World Tuesday

Joe Pye

My Joe Pye weed is in full glory right now and the butterflies are loving it.

Each spring I look for the new shoots to come up and cut back the dead stalks from the previous year. This plant is now in its sixth summer and as you can see has grown massive. It's in the perfect spot next to the pond.


When we moved here there was one in the glen next to the creek but I only saw it for one summer. I discovered one year that the deer eat it and that was the year I had no blooms.


Who is this Joe Pye and how did his name get on such a lovely late summer bloomer? According to wikepedia "Joe Pye, an Indian healer from New England, used E. purpureum to treat a variety of ailments, which led to the name Joe-Pye weed for these plants."

Joe Pye weed, a graceful soft contribution to the late summer garden. May you have many more years of bloom.