The type joepye weed that grows around here - eupatoriadelphus fistulosus - gets to be a minimum of 9' tall, real skinny, grows in the real wet areas beside creeks, and flowers in the fall. You usually see a lot of butterflies on the big, mauve pink blooms. I don't know if it'll grow in normally moist soil, so you might have to drown your phlox to the point of rotting to keep the joepye weed alive.
There is a dwarf type - 'Gateway' - that doesn't get as tall, but I'm not familiar with it, and don't know if it needs as much water as the regular.
I've wanted to plant some of our native type in my garden, but it just never would quite fit in - it's a good plant, though, so I might go ahead and plant it in my new, wet, butterfly garden.
MissSherry

I have Eupatorium maculata 'Gateway' and it is supposed to be a dwarf variety, but it gets about 5-6' tall in my garden, which is pretty tall. The butterflies love it - great nectaring plant. It can be a host plant for painted ladies, too, but I've never seen any on it. It does like wet feet. It is very stately, but I have to stake mine because otherwise, when it rains or if the wind blows too hard (y'all know what Oklahoma wind is like? think of the song, Oklahoma), the stems are very prone to damage.

I wouldn't be without it, though. Gateway has pinkish blooms. I've cut if back before, and it just comes right back full force and blooms again.

Susan

I have Joe Pye Weed and it was such a HUGE sucess with the butterflies last year that I may have to plant more of it! All sorts of butterflies came in from all over. I have all the usual "Hot" nectar producing plants for butterflies such as Butterfly Bush, Lantana, Tithonia, Sedum, Bee Balm, Coneflowers, Purple Cone Flowers, Salvias, Mexican Flame Vine, Blazing Star, etc but nothing beat the attracting power of the JPW.
Mine easily got to be over 6ft. despite being marked as "Gateway". It kind of just flopped over with its huge flowers heads but still was unstopable at attracting butterflies, bees & Hummers. You may want to stake it early just incase it gets to be bigger than expected. The flowers were Pink with white centers. Mine gets full sun from mid-morning to sun down.
This is the second year that I have had this & it has about 12-14 shoots in a 3ft. clump this year already! In my area the Hairstreaks, Monarchs, Anise Swallowtails & Painted Ladies loved it. Give it a try, it may be what your butterflies are looking for!

Butterflyhunter

If someone were to tell me tomorrow that I could only have five different plants in my garden, Joe Pye Weed would definitely be one of them. I've had Eupatorium maculatum in my garden for at least 7 years, and I love it. It does get tall (about 6-7') and it does spread, but it has not been invasive for me. I have it planted in two areas which both get hot sun in the afternoon and neither of them has particularly moist soil.

This plant is so easy-care, it's almost ridiculous. You can't kill it (it's slow to emerge in spring, but it will come back, believe me), I've never had to stake it, and I've never known it to be bothered by pests (except the deer who like to browse it early in the season. They tend to leave it alone after munching on it for a few weeks, and the Joe Pye bounces back better than ever after their "pruning".). The best part is, in mid-summer, when it starts to bloom here in central Maryland, it is almost continually covered by tiger swallowtails, monarchs, fritillaries and other large butterflies.

I just bought the cultivar "Little Joe" a few weeks ago, which is supposed to be a dwarf. We'll see how true that description turns out to be. In the gallon pot I bought it in, it had already grown to over 2 ft. tall when I finally planted it yesterday.

In my opinion, Joe Pye Weed is one of those rare perennials that can look at home in a formal English garden or in a more natural, wildlife garden setting like mine. You really can't go wrong with this plant, and if you're looking for something to attract butterflies, in my experience this is one of the best!

"Little Joe" was the variety I saw. I almost bought one but it was 16.95 for a two gallon. I wanted more info before buying.

I planted the "david" phlox years ago and they could probably use some deviding. They get about 5 feet tall some years. It's hard to find a plant of similar stature to fill in between.

I considered a clump of tall cosmos or cleome but I think I want something with more "body."

Oddly, the david is very attractive to Tiger Swallowtails when in bloom. Not much else seems to care about it.

I have heard quite a bit about Joe pye weed but I have never seen it. Could you please tell me where it can be bought so that I can put it in my butterfly garden. I live in Slidell, La. and have access to travel.

Thanks a lot ! ! ! !

Leubafr

I harvested my seed from the common Spotted Joe Pye-Weed (Eupatorium maculatum)that was growing on school campus next to our greenhouse. Gets no more water than the rest of the plants in this area...just regular waterings. Our summers are hot and dry. Grows to about 7' tall and looks handsome at the back of the border. I can't wait to see my little wintersown seedlings grow up into huge butterfly magnets! I planted them near Maximillian Sunflower, Zinnia, Coreopsis and new seedlings of Moonshine Yarrow.

Vera

This thread has me so excited! A new friend gave me some Joe Pie Weed last year. I planted it around the yard but it didn't really do anything. This year it has all taken off and is just days from bursting into bloom.

My garden is thriving with host and nectar plants but I haven't seen many fluttering friends so far this year. I came on to read about everyone's sightings as well as see any pictures being shared.

I hope Joe Pie Weed is the magic my garden needs to attract the butterflies!

I've put my first ones in a group in an area that's raised, but should get lots of sun...and I can waer. They're already 3 feet plus, and I see buds in one. I;ve heard so much abouth them being such a butterfly magnet. My butterfly bush I put in last year stayed green all winter, and now has beautiful purple blooms....I saw a huge TST on in the other day, then whan I finally found my camera....she split! The Joe Pye are such magnets, I expect some great pics!

Joe pye must flower much earlier down south than up here. I thought it was a fall bloomer.

There are several cultivars of Joe Pye in this area, and some get taller (e.g. I've seen ones with purple stalks that get very tall, while gateway for example is definitely smaller. And sometimes they are mislabelled at nurseries. (I have several varities growing side by side; one has a purple stalk, the other a spotted stalk). You can cut any of them back in June by about half here and they will grow back smaller and bushier.

This is not a plant to put in a small space and I wouldn't use it in a formal garden either. Along a wood line it is cool to just let it go and have a good old time.

Emmayct, Have you bought any Joe Pye weed yet?? :)

I think I have the same Joe-Pye as Vera (above) - Eupatorium Maculatum. Bought two 3 foot guys last summer - this year they are HUGE and strong, at least 8 feet tall. Do well with neglect in full sun. Mine flag a bit during the midday hot summer sun, but I don't really do much to them and they have (obviously) really taken off. Here is a photo of them from July 18, getting ready to bloom. Enjoy!

Sandy

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Whoops, sorry, had the color mode set for CMYK instead of RGB. Will somebody please teach me how to use Photoshop?!? Good grief.

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Nope, never bought any. I put two turtlehead plants in those spots instead. I had this crazy idea that I could transplant a small population of Baltimores here. When the chrysalises hatched , the butterflies flew off and I never saw evidence of any of them again. I released several males and females in a three day period.

I do have one small clump of Joe Pye from last year that is just about to bloom.

Does yours attract many butterflies?

Sandy - I love how your JPW looks! I've been too afraid to grow it for fear of it flopping all over the place, but yours looks nice and upright. :)

Hehe. Is that Cleome on the lower right? That stuff always makes me do a double take - even in my own yard. I love when people come over and they see it. They always stop and take a closer look, then look at me like "Ummmm..." Haha. ;)

Emmayct - sorry about your Baltimores! Dang. Since Mr. Pye (as my hub calls it!) is only in it's 2nd season, I have yet to determine if it's a real magnet or not. Even now, though, before the buds have opened, I see Monarchs and Cabbage Whites sitting on them!

Ladisz, yes that is Cleome! lol. First time growing that stuff - hoping to get lots of seeds! :)

Sandy

Hey Sandy! Hahaha. No worries on that Cleome - you'll get PLENTY of seeds!! :) Many of which you probably won't even realize you had til next spring when they start sprouting up EVERYWHERE! LOL

It's a great plant though. I wouldn't be without it. :D

I've seen a few butterflies attracted to cleome, although I can't remember what. And maybe hummers, too. I don't know why 'cause the stuff sure does stink!

I have found out about joe-pey-weed and wonder how to start out? Please e-mail me at astocknutt@aol.com so I can get started here in South Carolina.
Thanks

Hey scgrandpa, where are you in SC?