Do You Know Joe?

Many years ago, I bought a funny little plant called Joe Pye Weed. Strange name and called a weed, you might wonder why I picked it up at the nursery. Well, I don't remember the wording, but I know the tag said it was a pollinator magnet. It would be covered with bees and butterflies as soon as it blooms. Knowing how important it is to support our insect world lest we all might starve one day, I was happy to give Joe Pye Weed a try in my garden. At the time, I was planting in a small perennial garden at a previous house I owned so I had to be careful not to plant anything too boisterous that might crowd out the other plants. Well, the following summer I couldn't have been happier with Joe. A robust grower, it was about 4-feet tall when it started to bloom and, just like the tag said, it was loaded with bees, moths and butterflies. I was thrilled. The following summer, Joe Pye Weed's second season in the garden, I realized I might have made a mistake. The flower buds hadn't begun to open but the plant resembled a giant sunflower… already taller than me at 6 feet. The following week, it looked like a honeybee convention was taking place on its huge head of flowers. It was absolutely loaded! Alas, the plant just looked wrong in my 20-by-4-foot bed. It didn't belong there. A Joe Pye Weed needs lots of room where it can be admired by bees, butterflies and humans alike. At the end of the season I dug it up and passed it along to a friend who had a bit more space and areas he let go a little wild. I hadn't thought much more about Joe until a couple of years ago when I was looking out the kitchen window at our small field in the back of the property in Dublin. A familiar plant was towering above the ferns. How could that be? Did my friend play a prank on me and re-plant Joe Pye in my field? No, it turns out he didn't. That Joe Pye Weed is probably a nice, towering clump by now even though my friend sold his property years ago. It turns out Joe is a native here in New Hampshire! According to Native Plant Trust, several varieties of Joe Pye Weed grow naturally here in the state: Spotted Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium maculatum) thrives in wet soil. Coastal Plain Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium dubium) is found in damp habitats. And, Sweet Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum) grows in local woodlands and fields. I'm thinking the variety I've got growing is probably Sweet Joe Pye but it's supposed to grow to a maximum of 7 feet. When I looked up what the tallest species of Eutrochium (formerly in the Eupatorium genus) I found there's an even taller variety: Eutrochium fistulosum or Hollow Joe Pye Weed. It's a little rarer than the other three but it does also grow here in NH and it reaches up to 12 feet tall. With its large pink to purple flower heads and the amount of insect activity they get, I wondered if Joe Pye is related to milkweed. The flowers sure look similar but it turns out, no. Joe is actually in the aster family (sunflower) whereas milkweed is part of the Dogbane family. I'm happy to see Joe Pye again and noticed three or four "baby" Joes nearby. The plant can spread via its underground rhizomes or by seed but there's no real worry that it will become invasive. One of the articles I read mentioned Joe Pye has a slight vanilla scent to it so when I ask partner Joe to take a picture of me in the field under the plant (for perspective,) I'll gently pull the flower head down and give a sniff.