I promised my friend Nan a few photos of the Joe Pye Weed growing wild on our property. The plant that I photographed is growing wild in my practically-dry creek bed, and is taller than I am (not hard; I'm not quite 5'2".) I understand that this plant is a host plant and food source to many types of butterflies, and am always glad for its proximity to my butterfly garden (planted along the creek bank.) I've also read that this wildflower was once used by Native Americans as a medicinal plant, for a variety of purposes. The white variety at the bottom, which is Boneset, was once classified in the same plant family, but some recent reading reveals that they are now classified separately. I think they look like cousins, and they grow happily together all over the wild edges of my property.
10 comments:
How can something so pretty be a weed? I love the new photo header, by the way!
I know. "Weediness" is in the eye of the beholder I guess. To me, it is a lovely native wildflower!
Thanks for the comment on the header!
Aisling, these photos are wonderful, and you have captured two of my very favorite summer bloomers. Weeds??? There are no weeds anywhere!
Joe Pye also attracts little gray tree frogs but you have to look very VERY closely to find them.
Cate, Thank you! I agree... these are not weeds! Some of the invasive non-natives might qualify for that term, I guess, but even then they can be quite pretty. :)
Anonymous, Well now I definitely will be searching for little gray frogs in my Joe Pye! I had no idea that was a possibility! Thanks for the insight!
I love it! I can see a resemblance to the Queen of the Prairie, can you? No wonder the description sounded a bit alike. Thank you for taking the time to go out and take the pictures. I love them. And let us know if you find frogs!
Nan, I definitely see the resemblance to Queen of the Prairie! You're welcome - I enjoyed taking the photos! :) No little gray frog sightings yet, but I'll let you know if I see any!
Hope I am not too late to add my comment.
Yesterday I spotted a teeny, tiny green-jewel frog sitting on a small leaf of my Joe Pye weed four feet off the ground!
The frog is the size of my thumbnail. Today, I found a second frog, twice as big, which makes it the size of my thumb joint.
As I watched, he jumped to an adjacent leaf, opened his immense mouth, grabbed a black ant, then spit it out. The ant went back to eating the leaf.
I planted Joe Pye weed in my Minnesota garden on recommendation of a landscaper. I told her I wanted my garden to be beautiful summer and winter and low maintenance. It is!
It's never too late to comment, since I get notified by email of all comments. I'm glad you chimed in! I'm still waiting to see frogs on mine. What a fun thing!
Thanks for visiting here! I'm going to take a peek at your profile and see if you have a blog too. I love the native plants in a garden.
Aisling,
I have a new blog and website at revarasmussen.com.
I just added the guestbook a few minutes ago. Please be the first to sign!
Still under construction and haven't figured out how to use that email.
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