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Harbingers of Fall - Part I - Eupatorium


I don't know about you, but I tend to garden merrily along, somehow feeling that the gardening season will just go on and on until, one day, I look up and certain plants have come into bloom that always warn me that time is getting short. Fall is just around the corner and I'd better get busy and finish the projects I've been poking along on, during those hot summer weekends.

Eupatorium

Joe Pye Weed is the first one to tell me that summer is coming to an end in my USDA zone 7 garden. Two of about 500 species of mostly perennial herbs and shrubs are documented with this common name:

  • Eupatorium maculatum (Joe Pye Weed, Spotted Joe Pye Weed) is native to eastern and central United States with a range extending west. You may have seen it growing in ditches along the roadside. They really like moist soil and tolerate alkaline soils. They prefer sun, but will grow and flower in light shade. They are hardy to USDA zones 2 and 3. In marshy soil or damp soil in shade, they can reach ten feet in height (3 + meters).

  • Eupatorium purpureum (Sweet Joe-Pye-Weed, Green-stem Joe-Pye-Weed, Bluestem Joe-Pye-Weed, Gravelroot) is native, primarily of the eastern United States but is also found in the Midwest. These two plants are quite similar in appearance with the main differences of stem coloration (E. purpureum has green stems, sometimes with purple nodes; E. maculatum has purple spotted stems) and leaf size. The leaves on E. purpureum can reach 12 inches (30 cm) in length and are scented of vanilla when bruised. Their flowerheads are made up of fewer flowers and colors range from yellowish-white through pinkish to purplish, whereas E. maculatum's flowers are generally purple.

    I've had one or the other of these two species around in various spots, but the one that I grow on purpose was sold to me as E. atropurpurea — 'Gateway.' A substantial amount of research indicates that atropurpurea is not a recognized species. There may be a cultivar of E. purpureum called 'Atropurpureum', which has purple stems and leaf veins. My plants have this. I have also seen 'Gateway' for sale in various nursery catalogs. At this point, I think my plants' true botanical identity is up for grabs. They are lovely, that I do know. The huge flowerheads, magnets for butterflies and bees, are decorated with Swallowtails all summer — just like this photo shows.

    The copyright of the article Harbingers of Fall - Part I - Eupatorium in Shade Gardening is owned by Marge Talt. Permission to republish Harbingers of Fall - Part I - Eupatorium in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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