skip to main content

what happened to my Joe Pye plants??

14 years ago

I cautiously walked on a highway offramp to collect seeds from a beautiful stand of joe pye weed a couple years ago. I waited till the winter, wintersowed them with great success, and planted the seedlings last spring. They grew to 5 or 6 inches through the season, and I was thrilled to await their arrival this year.

So far, almost everything has leafed up but my Joe Pye. None of it has come up, so I amjust hoping that it likes to arrive late. My coreopsis are the only other plant not showing itself yet. My Trilliums, Solomons Seal and Jack in the Pulpits also appear to be sleeping..

I am probably just rushing them, but of all the natives, JP is my favorite and I"ve wanted it in my garden for a long time. I guess if the seedlings dont' sprout, I could buy them from a nursery but thats so BORING--and they are very hard to find here.

Anyone growing it who has spotted it this spring??

Comments (6)

ronkw
14 years ago
Well... since you had growth last year...keep the fingers crossed. I too enjoy gathering native seed any way I can.
I've got JP growing down in the bottom, presently they're about 1 ft.tall, they'll get to 10'+
They were non-existant 10-12days ago. (much furthur south than u)

Hopefully your efforts will be rewarded!
dandy_line (Z3b N Cent Mn)
14 years ago
Joe Pye is traditionally very late out of the ground. Don't worry-your little plants are fine. They can survive anything, including a pick axe. Just wait til you try to move them.

------- Monarch fest and Joe Pye ---------
Related Discussions
I planted Joe Pye Weed but................
Q
Comments (7)
I thought it looked a little like that too, but it isn't. lol I got it at a garden center last fall, they were dividing plants up I got two starts, it was marked Joe Pye Weed. Besides being listed as a Butterfly plant. I really do not know nothing about it. Today on break I was looking at a garden book and decided to see when Joe Pye weed bloomed. That is when I noticed the leafs on my plant looked totally different then the one in the book. I was too busy to check it out so I thought I would see if anyone here knew what it was. I did find after I posted this Eupatorium cannabinum. But it still does not look like what I have.
...See More
'Baby Joe' Joe Pye Weed
Q
Comments (22)
CLBlakey, I had no idea how toxic I was, until I did a search online!!! Since it was what the landscape designer suggested, I just wanted to check to see how it looked, then I found out that it was that toxic! WOW! Now, CLBlakey and Terry, tell me though, does Monkshood at least look good?! How tall did it get for you? Now, I am wrecking my brain, trying to think of something tall and good looking that will be perfect for that partial shade spot with moist soil behind the Incrediball hydrangeas... so far, JPW Gateway is still leading. How about bugbane (with the tall, dark leaves?) or Ligularia with those tall yellow spikes? Aruncus would have been perfect if the plumes were not white.... sigh! Any more suggestion would be very much appreciated!
...See More
what to do w/newly collected Joe Pye seeds
Q
Comments (6)
I would sow some outdoors in the spot where you want them to grow, as you have already done. Next, I might sow a few more outdoors in a garden row or in a pot or some other place where you can watch them carefully as insurance against something happening to the first set of seeds. Any other seeds I would store in a plastic bag in the fridge until maybe Jan, then I would sprinkle them onto a damp paper towel and return to the fridge for a couple months of 'could/moist stratification.' After this, perhaps in April or May I would sow them in potting soil and attempt to grow them like any other seed. i don't like starting native plants too early indoors because they tend to grow better in warmer weather with longer days, such as you start to have in May. Growing wildflowers indoors in Feb and March is tricky and unnecessary, I think. I'd just as soon wait until later in the year, with the understanding that seeds started later probably won't bloom the first year.
...See More
What is this on my Joe Pye weed?
Q
Comments (3)
Don't recognize it from the fuzzy picture but it sure is doing some damage, isn't it? Are there lots of them?
...See More
Lynda Waldrep
14 years ago
Joe Pye CANNOT survive just anything as they have that pithy stem and can freeze in hard winters if they are cut back in the fall. I lost almost all of mine when trying to be a neat gardener years ago (got over that fast!)... Fortunately, there was a spot I missed along the edge of the woods, and that was not affected. BTW, those plants are up now about an inch. Yes, they are a little later than some, but this year all of my early plants were "confused" by the cold winter and came up and bloomed much later than usual. The later spring blooming plants appear to be on schedule, so now I have things blooming together that I have never seen, such as Claytonia and Dentaria/Cardamine blooming at the same time as Trillium grandiflorum.
dkgarber
Original Author
14 years ago
Dandi I am SO jealous of those gorgeous plants you have going!!! And look at those butterflies! I had one lonley monarch last year in my butterfly garden-hopefully this year he brings his friends.

I didn't cut them back in the fall so hopefully they'll show their little heads soon. Everything in my yard is quite late-mu daffodils JUST bloomed a couple days ago!
dandy_line (Z3b N Cent Mn)
14 years ago
dkgarber-thanks for the nice words. I started them from seeds of var 'Glow'. Much nicer than the wild kind.
I guess I don't know why you left the dead tops on as it shouldn't make any difference.
And-why don't you add your zone and/or state to your ID so the rest of us can see where you're at.
Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
14 years ago
Trilliums should be up in your area. Mine have been up for a while now. Jacks emerge much later than the trillium and are often hid a long time by the leave cover before emerging above that.

Sue

Sign Up to Comment

Related Stories

FLOWERS Great Design Plant: Joe Pye Weed

By Becky Harris

This unsung beauty tolerates wet soil, provides beautiful late summer blooms and attracts butterflies and hummingbirds

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: Eutrochium Maculatum

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Sculptural, slightly tropical looking and a boon to wildlife, Spotted Joe Pye Weed is a gotta-have plant in many parts of the U.S.

FALL GARDENING Great Design Plant: Symphyotrichum Novae-Angliae Ushers in Fall

By Pollination Press LLC

With bold purple flowers easily accessible to pollinators, New England aster offers loads of interest in the autumn garden

NATIVE PLANTS Plant These Fall-Flowering Natives in Early Summer for Pollinator Love

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

These 3 groups of plants will support masses of beneficial insects come autumn

FLOWERS AND PLANTS Help Monarchs and Other Butterflies by Planting Common Milkweed

By Pollination Press LLC

Summer-blooming Asclepias syriaca is an important larval host plant for the monarch butterfly and attracts a number of pollinating insects

GARDENING FOR BUTTERFLIES 3 Ways Native Plants Make Gardening So Much Better

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

You probably know about the lower maintenance. But native plants' other benefits go far beyond a little less watering and weeding

GARDENING GUIDES 6 Plants That Beat Butterfly Bush for the Wildlife Draw

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

It's invasive, a nonnative and a poor insect magnet. Check out these better alternatives to butterfly bush in the garden

NATIVE PLANTS Why Aggressive Plants Might Actually Be Your Friends

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Sometimes a garden thug is exactly what’s called for

WINTER GARDENING 10 Native Wildflowers to Beautify Your Winter Garden

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

They stand strong in wind, feed wildlife and are easy to grow. But you may want to add these plants for their looks alone

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: Eragrostis Spectabilis

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Purple lovegrass thrives in tough conditions. It’s a native grass with a wide range across the eastern U.S.

Sponsored

NME Builders LLC

2 Reviews

Industry Leading Kitchen & Bath Remodelers in Franklin County, OH