Western Ironweed

Really??? I just saw some at the Cleveland County Master Gardens last Saturday and snapped a picture of it because I liked it. I just now went back and looked at that photo and lo, they're the same! My neighbor's is prettier though. Probably because it gets a little rest from the Sun. His is also much taller. I can now tell him what it is. Thanks!

Do you know how to propagate it? Seed? Cutting? He said he'd share. If by seed, how would you collect it? Wait until the flower heads die?

You can propagate it from seed, though I think the seeds have low germination rates. The one in my garden never has sowed one volunteer in the surrounding area and I have tons of self-seeding plants all around it that produce volunteers like crazy, so that's probably a clue. It grows in a clumping manner, continually expanding outward via rhizomes, so I think it would be easy to divide an existing plant by digging it up and dividing it in fall, though I've never tried it myself. You also could take softwood cuttings in spring and root them. With the seed, you wait until the bloom period has ended and the seedheads have turned brown. If you go that route, sow a ton of seeds because germination will be low.

Thank you. Yes, my neighbor has a huge clump. He has built an "invisible" fence around it to keep them from flopping completely over. It's about 5 feet tall or so. He said some has popped up in another part of his yard. Odd because the areas are separated by a circular drive. It is really beautiful. I'll have to figure out where I can put it in my yard. I do believe I need some.

I don't think they are the same. The top one looks like a purple phlox that I have. Just my opinion !!

Purple phlox might look similar from a distance, but its flowers are different from those of western ironweed.

Here's one example of the flowers of purple phlox:

Purple Phlox 'Nicky'

This looks like plants that grow wild in our bar ditch. I have no idea what it is but I think it is pretty.