Thanks for the Joe Pye Weed!

Seeing Joe Pye weeds blooming now in my garden and around town, I say “Where has this great perennial been all my gardening life?”

It seems it wasn’t available here in the U.S. until the Europeans fell in love with this native of Eastern and Central U.S. and its popularity finally spread back to the U.S.  Allen Bush reported that he “imported a Joe-Pye weed from England in the mid-1980s that didn’t look a dime different from others growing along roadsides in Western North Carolina,” having concluded that “If they grow Joe-Pye weed in England, we should too.” So thanks,  Allen!

In my enthusiasm for this plant, I did some digging and learned that the dwarf  ‘Little Joe’ that I planted in my small garden is Eupatorium dubium, with a predicted height of either 24-30 inches, 1-3 feet, 3-4 feet or 3-5 feet.  Yes, sources don’t agree. And I discovered another dwarf – ‘Baby Joe’, expected to grow to 24-30 inches.

Whatever! I totally agree with this source that it’s a “well-behaved garden plant with a shallow fibrous root that won’t interfere with other garden perennials. A great contributor whether massed, naturalized or in the border garden.” In my front garden (photo above) it performs quite well interspersed with wood aster.

The common taller Joe Pye is Eupatorium purpureum. They typically grow to 5 to 7 feet, but can reach 12 feet.

Why the Height Changes?

But height changes even in my ‘Little Joes’ have me scratching my head.  First, its volunteers appear to be taller than the originals, and the originals were unusually short this year, with sparse blooms later than usual.  I’ve concluded that’s because I was late in realizing they needed supplemental watering during the extreme heat and drought we experienced in June and July.

There I go assuming that because it’s native, it’ll survive these extremes of weather!  If only I’d done some research I’d have seen the soil moisture requirements for Joe Pye weed described as:

• “best in wet sunny areas, so it is perfect for a rain garden”
• “average, moist/wet“
• “average soil, clay, sandy or gravelly soils, that stay average moist to wet, but it will tolerate drier soils too”
• “moist to wet soils.”

With the Missouri Botanic Garden saying it “easily grown in abundantly moist, fertile, humusy soils in full sun to part shade. Also performs well in moist sandy to gravely soils. Soils must not be allowed to dry out”and describing its uses as “moist areas in borders, cottage gardens, meadows, native plant gardens, wild/naturalized areas, rain gardens or water margins.”

So duh, it’s not particularly drought-tolerant! In my former garden I used to have a list of “not drought-tolerant” plants and I’d refer to during droughts – because not all plants wilt to warn you before they die by drought.  I don’t know if the underperforming Joe Pyes in my garden would have died without my rescue-by-hose; I didn’t take that chance. 

Wildlife Value Galore!

The High Country Gardens catalog lists these “major attributes” of Joe Pye weed: “Native, Attracts Butterflies, Attracts Birds, Deer Resistant, Naturalizes, Cut Flowers, Fragrant, Winter Interest.” If its performance in my garden is any indication, I say yes to all that and “Attracts Butterflies” is an understatement!

Another Pesky New Name

To the chagrin of the nursery industry and customers alike, all the Eupatoriums are now called “Eutrochiums.” So like the new name for asters, I’m going to not bother to learn it.

Finally, WHO was Joe Pye?

This is the story you usually see:

Popular literature on wildflowers has included a variety of stories about Joe Pye over the years, with the most complex of these telling the tale of a member of the First Nations community that saved an entire colony from typhus fever by using one of the Joe-Pye Weed species medicinally.

But recent research has found no proof of that.

Their research did tie the name Joe Pye to an actual man, named Joseph Shauquethqueat, who was a Mohican sachem (tribal leader) in the 18th and early 19th century. With the published journal of a fellow Mohican, Samson Occom, the authors were able to establish a connection between Shauquethqueat and the name Joe Pye.

They attributed the use of the name Joe Pye to the common usage, at the time, of Christian or white surnames by the First Nations community for the purpose of communication or conducting business. The surname Pye was well documented among English-speaking people of New England and had been in use by Mohicans since the 1730s or even earlier.

Source.