Great shots! I need to get some of that Joe Pye Weed!

They attracted Red-Banded Hairstreaks too. :)

Very nice pictures, Bob! Can you believe that I had bought Joe Pye Weed for here about 4 years ago and I have yet to see a butterfly on it! It must be one of those regional preferences again. I think it's a very pretty plant though.
Cathy

I haven't found any plants or seeds for sale here. :(

I even dug up some under the power line up the road, but I don't think I got enough root and it looks dead. I want some so badly!

As usual, awesome pictures. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Betty

Jeff, not sure I am understanding your comment...is my "gray" really a "red-banded"?

Thanks,
Bob

Beautiful pictures, Bob! I haven't planted any joe-pye weed - where'd they get THAT name? - because it gets SO tall, with no branches, that by fall, it's bent over to the ground. If a plant is going to grow 12' tall, it should take on bush or tree shape! I'm seeing butterflies nectaring on it roadside right now, though, and it's beautiful and erect now.
I think Jeff just meant that red-banded hairstreaks like joe-pye weed, too - yours is certainly a gray hairstreak!
Sherry

Oops, sorry to have been unclear. What I meant was, you can anticipate some lovely visitors.

Great pics Bob! We have Joe Pye Weed all over our acreage, but I transplanted some to a corner of our side yard, right outside my bedroom window. It does indeed attract so many butterflies. Mine will probably bloom in about 1-2 weeks.
I feel really stupid. I was on my way out to check for monarch caterpillars on it last week, when I remembered it was JP weed and not milkweed!

This is my first year - got some seed in the great winter sower's winter swap. So far, only two red admirals. The monarchs are busy with the milkweed!

Mine has buds but not quite blooming yet. This will be its first year to bloom and I'm anxious to see what the butterflies think of it.

Bob - do you have more than one color of Joe Pye Weed or is that just a difference in lighting?

Very valid question, Christie! The true color is the first photo...the one with the Tiger Swallowtail was shot in full afternoon shade while the first was shot in bright morning sunshine. I could have, and perhaps should have, changed the white balance setting at the time of taking the shaded shot. The fourth was shot with a fill flash with no white balance changes. Thanks for noticing!

In further answer to your question, I do have a second variety of Joe Pye Weed, called Sweet Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpurea) but the blooms are not quite open yet.

Bob

There is a Joe Pye Weed plant called a chocolate Joe Pye Weed. I 'think' it tends to be shorter, has a purple cast bronze coloring on the foliage and white blooms. I planted one last year and it is just beginning to bloom now in my zone 7b and is about 24 inches high. I have it planted where it gets dappled sunlight here and I've read it doesn't like to dry out. I'm anxious to see if the butterflies use it. It's so pretty, I'll keep it regardless but I did plant it for the butterflies.

FYI: It is also very easy to start new plants from tip cuttings.

Mary

Mary - I have Chocolate and can't recall seeing butterflies on it. It is a very pretty plant though.
Got to warn you - I let mine go to seed a couple times and got way more seedlings than I wanted.

I've had a 'Baby Joe' blooming for a couple years and haven't seen any butterflies using that one so far.

Mary,

Tell me more about starting plants from tip cuttings.

Is it just the Chocolate variety, or can I start the regular kind that's just growing on the roadside that I know the butterflies love?

I need details!

Do you prepare a nice spot in the ground? Sun or shade? Pot? How long a piece do you cut? What Kind of starter soil do you use?

I told you I needed details! lol

I'll be cutting some tips as soon as you reply.

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!

I'm tempted to go cut some and stick them in a nice, deeply prepared spot in my butterfly garden right now!

Thanks,
Betty

As far as the usual JP weed, I have mine in part sun, part shade and it does lean towards the sun. So I'm thinking it likes sun the best.

Betty,

With the Choc Joe Pye weed, I just take a growing stem tip and cut it off maybe 6 inches down. I then remove the bottom two sets of leaves, pinch them off right up near the stem. Then I pinch out the growing tip. Dampen a very light potting mix, and if you have it on hand, add a little extra damp perlite. The extra perlite is just a precaution to maintain a well aerated rooting medium. I stick the stem end that's going into the potting mix into root tone or clonex and then into the little pot of potting soil. If it's hot or dry outside, I stick a cover over the pot made from a clear 2 liter plastic cola bottle with the bottom cut out and the cap removed. This helps maintain the moisture. Keep a check on the potting mix, as you don't want it to dry out. Mist the leaves along if you think of it. If the leaves that are remaining on the stem are very large, I cut each leaf in half. Usually I only have four leaves left on the stem above the soil line. I keep the little pot in the shade until I see new growth at the leaf nodes.

This is how I do it but this is not absolute; try with what you have. Sometimes we improvise. I've had every cutting of this plant I've tried, root, so I think these plants must be very easy and hardy. I think the key is to begin with a growing tip. I've read this is the best because the plant cells contain strong hormones, as opposed to trying to take a tip cutting late in the summer when plants are beginning to slow their growth.

If it were me, I'd give it a try. There's nothing to lose and a lot to gain if you want to try and grow the native variety. I wish I had room for the native variety but my garden area is small so I have to try plants that don't need a lot of room.

If you're going to take cuttings from the roadside, carry along a jug of water, where you can stick the cutting as soon as you remove it from the plant. I think I'd also try to take my cuttings early in the day, before the heat of the day saps their strength.

It's always fun to try something new. I was encouraged by others on these forums and I've found that most plants root quite easily from tip cuttings. Good luck.

Mary

Thank you SO MUCH, Mary!!

I was wondering how I could dig up some more of the Joe Pye weed because it is growing in poison oak. But, I can lean over and snip some tips!!

I have a very steep front bank that I am trying to get planted as a butterfly garden. Lots of room. It is so steep in that area that I have to put larger sized rocks on both sides of the plants in some places to keep runoff from taking the plants on downhill!

I lose my balance easily on the steepest part. My flipflop got wet from condensation on the grass from the watering hose a couple of weeks ago and down I went! DH said, "I tried to catch you, but you were on the ground before I even got my hand out!"

Scary moments! I hope my 'Butterfly Babies' appreciate their Mama's tenacity!!

I love it. Yesterday I went outside to take some food to my son to grill and it looked like a cloud of tiger swallowtails flying around from my butterfly bush. I transplanted it from our other place and don't remember the name. I am taking some blooms to the nursery today to see if I can find some more. If not, I will take stem cuttings and try my luck at rooting them after reading here that they root easily.

Thanks again for your detailed tips. I need details! :)
Betty

I've never seen Joe Pye Weed grow wild anyplace around me except in my field. Once I found this plant a few years ago, and realized how it seemed like an airport for butterflies and bugs of all kinds, I found out what it was, dug some up and put it in my butterfly garden. Everything seems to love it. It seems to spread a bit and get taller each year, so I am thinking of trying to divide it next year. Want some? lol!

Betty,

As other forum members have said, Butterfly bush is another plant that roots very easily from a tip cutting. I've rooted several cuttings from the Butterfly bush I purchased at the nursery. In fact, I have one of them blooming it's head off in a pot on my deck right now. Very easy, so do try a cutting, even if you purchase a new Butterfly bush. They grow so fast, a cutting taken now may very likely bloom this season.

Best of luck with your butterfly garden. They will be so appreciative of your efforts.

Mary