Joe Pye Weed is a Towering Native Icon of the Garden!

With its beautiful name, eye-catching height and show-stopping floral displays, Joe Pye Weed is sure to make that late Summer splash in your garden. In Joe’s opinion, no perennial garden would be complete without a little Joe Pye Weed. 

Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium) in full bloom in a rain garden

In this post, you'll learn:

• Why Joe Pye Weed may be perfect for your garden

• Joe Pye Weed's characteristics and growth requirements

• Its importance to pollinators and the ecosystem

• Joe Pye Weed flowers can be as wide as a basketball!

• The history behind this native perennial

A towering clump of Joe Pye Weed in a late Summer perennial garden

This is a mid-to-late Summer bloomer that works beautifully toward the back of the garden, behind your Spring and early Summer perennials. It’s easy to forget about this plant until it bursts with flowers—then, there’s no missing it. 

Closeup of Joe Pye Weed in bloom in our native plant section at Bountiful Gardens Hillsborough

In addition to featuring huge, long-lasting softball to basketball-sized flowers and impressive height, Joe Pye Weed is also very deer resistant, making it one of our favorite wildflowers for any perennial garden. This amazing native plant blooms from about mid Summer all the way through frost, and comes in shades of pinks and purples. 

A solo Joe Pye Weed standing tall in a native field

Since Joe Pye Weed blooms later in the year, it’s a great source of pollen for our late flying bees, butterflies and other pollinators. If you’re looking to add a vertical element to the garden, this is one of the best choices you can make, as Joe Pye Weed reaches between 6 to 10 feet in height! 

Joe Pye Weed on the periphery of a rain garden at Rutgers Gardens

We have two different species for you to choose from: Spotted Joe Pye Weed and Sweet-Scented Joe Pye Weed. These two varieties do well in average to wet soils and can handle anywhere from part to full sun, but as with most wildflowers, the more sun they get, the more blooms they’ll give. 

Joe Pye Weed makes a great plant for the drier parts of a rain garden.

Here’s a fun botanical name fact: Joe Pye Weed was once classified as “Eupatorium,” but has recently been placed into the genus “Eutrochium”. 

A closeup on a lighter variety of Joe Pye Weed

Long ago, the blooms of Joe Pye Weed were used to treat inflammation, arthritis, fever and even kidney ailments—it was kind of like nature’s Advil. In fact, it gets its name because long ago in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, a Mohican named Joe Pye used this plant to treat the settlers at that colony. There are many different versions of this story, and it’s under some hot debate, but it’s an interesting tale for a unique flower. 

A closeup on a fresh Eutrochium bloom in Hillsborough

Joe Pye Weed has a very fibrous root system that helps to retain soil during floods, making it of great value on slopes and other erosion-prone landscapes. It also features hollow stalks that, once dry in the Fall, maintain vertical interest in the garden while providing critical habitat for native beneficial insects. 

Dan, in his happy place amongst the Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium)

Overall, Joe Pye Weed is one of our absolute favorite native perennial wildflowers. With its big, bountiful blooms and towering heights, this is one plant your garden can’t be without! Come find the right one for your landscape today! 

Towering Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium) on the edge of a woodland garden

Watch all of the above in video form, below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUuiN9NzsWg