Eutrochium Euphoria

     Joe Pye weed to me is the essence of an Ohio summer, its poofy, pale-pink blooms decorating every unmown roadside and field and probably too much of my small yard. But it is such a sociable plant, attracting more tiger swallowtails than any other bloom I know. Yesterday afternoon, a single plant was hosting six, though they would not agree to cluster in camera range.

                    Formerly part of the genus Eupatorium, Joe Pye has now been given its own genus, but whatever it is called, the plant is a pollinator magnet. Summer afternoon entertainment around here includes checking out the activity. A fifteen-minute period today found bumblebees, honeybees, hoverflies, both the yellow and dark morph forms of tiger swallowtail, a black swallowtail, a great spangled fritillary, several silver-spotted skippers, a hummingbird, and the year's second monarch. Wildlife-watching without leaving my favorite porch chair. 

     In addition to being a nectar host for any number of adult butterflies and moths, Joe is a larval host for swallowtails, skippers, painted ladies, blues, and assorted moths and provides fall seed for small birds. Left standing, it can provide cover, and its hollow stems host cavity-nesting insects.

     This is not, however, a plant for timid gardeners. Dwarf cultivars of Joe Pye can reach five feet in height, and some species are downright enormous. The photo below is a specimen that volunteered in my yard, taken early in its second season in 2019. The tree in the background is a mature "Bloodgood" Japanese maple, more than fifteen feet tall.

The photo below was taken this evening, after the plant had been beaten down by heavy rain. The tallest stem is somewhere around ten feet, or maybe twelve. 

     In more civilized parts of the yard, I prune Joe Pye, cutting it back by a third the first weeks of June and July to keep it between four and six feet tall. These plants start blooming a few weeks later than the one left to its own devices but do just fine, and extending the bloom season is never a bad thing.

     And for me, being surrounded by so much buzzing, fluttering life is the major joy of summer.

 

Silver-spotted skipper