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

Uh...make that E. purpureum. Still find it mildly surprising that the kind growing in my meadow stays so short. Purpureum is, if anything, typically even taller than other types. But mine stays right about 3-4 feet. BTW, and yes, this is a bit OT, but I do sense that there really is something wrong with pollinating insects across the country, and perhaps on a worldwide basis. This very same meadow of which I speak was, just a few years ago, full of bees and butterflies this time of year. Not saying they're all gone, but something's going on. Not nearly as much activity. The very air itself used to be alive back there this time of year. On sat. I noticed only some type of black bee or pollinating fly on the blooms, albeit these were numerous, whatever they are. +oM

My mom planted mint in a big, deep plastic pot with the bottom cut out. I'm not sure if it grew out from under the pot, but the stems flopped over and rooted outside the pot, plus seedlings appeared some feet away from the mother plant. So, I'd have to say No, lawn edging would not be an effective containment system for mint. For anything as tall as Joe Pye Weed, I'd guess you'd need something about a foot deep - and my JPW spreads more by seedlings than by spreading. I do use both steel and plastic edging - 4" wide - to keep the grass out of the beds. I still have to monitor that edge, but it's fairly effective. I use it along with bricks for a mowing strip. It's much better than bricks alone, since they're not quite deep enough to stop the grass (plus, there are gaps between the bricks, of course).

Image by: wintersown Eupatorium rugosum seeds. Eupatorium is another of the wonderful butterfly attracting wildflowers that release their seeds via the "fluff and fly" method. Seeds are dispersed via fluffy parasols that use breezes to float mature seeds far away from the mother plant to settle into new ground, sprout and grow. Seed collection is easy....simply grasp the the fluff with your fingers and remove it from the plant. Another means of collection is to gather the mature seed clusters into your hand and crumble them into a deep container held below. The seeds and chaff will drop into the vessicle. Do not attempt to gather these seeds on a very windy day as many will be disperse into the wind as you take them from the plant. The seeds are located at the very base of the fluff held in a tight cluster. They are very small, medium brown, the width of a fine needle and about an 1/8" long. Seeds are often traded with the chaff and sowing instructions should include to sow both seeds and chaff onto the surface of moist soil and pat down to adhere the seeds to the soil.