Joe-Pye Weed
Eutrochium fistulosum
Perennial flower
The gentle giant — 7 feet of dusky mauve flower clusters held above whorled leaves, humming with swallowtails for a solid month of late summer. Anchors the back of any moist border.
The spec sheet.
- Habitat
- Wet meadows, streambanks, low woods
- Bloom time
- July – September
- Sun
- Full sun to part sun
- Soil
- Rich, moist to wet
- Moisture
- Moist to wet
- Height
- 5–8 feet
What it attracts.
The species that visit, feed on, or depend on this plant — and how they use it.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Nectar source
One of the top late-summer swallowtail plants
Bumblebees
Nectar source
Spicebush Swallowtail, Monarch
Nectar source
Skippers & hoverflies
Nectar source
Only plant this where you have space and moisture. In dry soil it will sulk. Cut to the ground in fall, or leave stems as hollow overwintering habitat for cavity-nesting bees.
Xerces Society · Jersey-Friendly Yards
Other natives in bloom now.
- AtNative · NJ
Butterfly Milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa
The orange one. A dry-meadow milkweed with clusters of small vivid blooms that hold a huge diversity of pollinators through the hot months.…
- Type
- Perennial flower
- Bloom
- Jun–Aug
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Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea
The classic pink-purple prairie daisy with a raised copper-brown center. Blooms for months in the height of summer and holds up in a vase or…
- Type
- Perennial flower
- Bloom
- Jun–Sep
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Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata
The pink milkweed. A tidy, upright plant that stays where you plant it — no aggressive runners like Common Milkweed — with clusters of small…
- Type
- Perennial flower
- Bloom
- Jun–Aug