Late Season Nectar Flower for Pollinators
Eutrochium maculatum: Spotted Joe pye weed, Spotted trumpetweed
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Plant Specs:
- Perennial: USDA hardiness zones 3-8 (lows -31 °C or -24 °F)
- Native region for spotted joe pye weed
- Full sun to part shade
- Average water needs; do not over water
- Height 2 to 10 feet
- ‘Gateway’ cultivar height: 4 to 6 feet (ours eclipsed 8 ft in Minnesota)
- Spacing: 4 to 6 ft
- Flowers: shades of pink
- Blooms mid to late summer
Plant Propagation:
- Sow seeds directly in fall
- Start seeds indoors before final frost
- Sow seeds directly after final frost
- Divide rootball in autumn or spring
- Winter sowing
Pros:
- Covered with small pollinators and butterflies every summer
- Towering plant allows easy viewing of butterflies
- Monarch migration plant for northern regions
- easy care plant in consistently moist soils
- No serious pest issues
Cons:
- Past its prime during the monarch migration
- Small pollinators sometimes take over blooms from the butterflies- but little ‘flies’ gotta eat too!
- Prolific seeder in wet conditions
- Some have reported issues with powdery mildew
Spotted Joe Pye Growing Tips:
- Plant in area with moist soil or leaves tend to wilt or scorch
- Eutrochium can be planted/divided in spring or fall
- Even though it’s large, transplants pretty easily
- Attract more pollinators by growing in full sun
- Cut- once the flowers turn brown, cut them off and discard to avoid heavy seeding
Pollinator Plus:
Besides monarchs, spotted joe pye weed is popular with bumble bees, red admirals, red spotted purples, skippers, tiger swallowtails, variegated fritillaries, and many other small pollinators!
Please comment below if you know of other pollinator that frequently visit Spotted Joe Pye!
Resources:
Find More Pink Butterfly Flower Favorites on our Butterfly Flowers Page
Please post below if you have any questions or comments about growing
Eutrochium maculatum in your butterfly garden:
Eutrochium maculatum in your butterfly garden:
You mentioned a con that Gateway does not bloom during monarch migration. Is that true for Georgia?
Hi Debbie, in Georgia I would guess it blooms even earlier…I’m located in Minnesota. You might try a gardening group on facebook to find gardeners in your region:
https://monarch-butterfly-shop.helpscoutdocs.com/article/144-fast-answers-to-your-gardening-questions
You mention the Eutrochium maculatum, is that the only species of Joe Pye Weed you recommend? I am asking because my local grower has 10 different species of Joe Pye Weed and I would like to make sure I get the best one for nectar for all the butterflies or are they all just as good as each other?
Hello, I am wanting to start a station for butterflies. We have sandy soil with some clay down deep. Would that be a problem with planting. We live in East Texas and what would be the best plants for this station. Thanking you in advance.
Hi Betty, check out this group for regional info:
Building a Butterfly Garden
and check out: How to start a Monarch Butterfly garden
Can Monarch caterpillar survive on Joe Pye? And go into chrysalis?
hi Carol, caterpillars only feed on milkweed, but they can form their chrysalis on a joe pye plant.
Tony, I have both the regular and dwarf Joe Pyeweed growinug in my monarch waystation and noticed some chewholes (actually LOTS of chew holes) in the leaves. The caterpillars eventually get these long creamy-whitish hairs on them. What butterfly does Joe Pyeweed serve as a host plant for? Thanks Tony!
Hi John, my guess is some type of moth caterpillar. This species will feed on joe pye:
Estigmene acrea
If that’s not the right ID, I would try posting in a moth group…good luck!
Hi Tony,
Question about Joe Pye. I have two of them which are at the center of my butterfly garden and I’m finding it difficult more now than years prior to support them. They flop over and sometimes crush things around them after heavy rainfall. I never used to have a problem with them and I’m wondering if it’s because in four years I’ve never separated the root balls for either of them. Any thoughts on what I could do?
Hi Zack, this is not an issue I’ve encountered with the gateway variety, even though ours has grown to 8 feet before. Perhaps because it’s against a back fence? You could always try cutting it back earlier in the season to encourage bushier growth…I’ve never divided ours, but that might help the situation too. Those root balls can be massive after only a few years.
BTW… FANTASTIC SITE!!! I’ve learned tons tonite, and its helping me plan my seeds purchase for this week.
Re: J.P. pollinators…
Some of my ABSOLUTE favorite floral photos are ones in which I captured Honeybees just going Crazy on the Beautiful Joe Pye plants growing on a wetter stretch of land at the local Community College. 🙂
~Jo in
Fort Collins, Colorado
Thank you Jo…I look forward to hearing about your garden this season!
Hi Jean, if you plant them inside, you would need to cold stratify in your refrigerator first.
So if they are to be planted in the fall outside if I get seeds now do I need to cold stratify before planting inside?
I have had a Joe Pye Weed in my butterfly gardens for several years. It grows to about 6 feet. For some reason I have rarely, if ever, had any butterflies nectaring on it. What could be the reason?
Hi Dottie, when I moved our Joe Pye into partial shade, there were noiceably less pollinators on it. However, it was also in a drier location which could have affected nectar content.
For your situation, is it possible you had a different species? There are quite a few of them. If you regularly have butterflies, but they don’t visit the flowers, you might consider a different species or a different butterfly plant altogether. Buttonbush likes similar growing conditions to joe pye:
http://monarchbutterflygarden.net/butterfly-plants/#WHBF