Bloom Color

Joe Pye weed Interesting Notes

'Gateway' is a popular cultivar that is more compact than the species, typically growing shorter (to 4-5' tall) and bushier with tighter and thicker inflorescences. It is an erect, clump-forming perennial that features coarsely-serrated, lance-shaped, dark green leaves (to 8" long), typically in whorls of 3-4 on sturdy, wine-red stems. Tiny, dusky rose-pink flowers in huge, terminal, domed, compound inflorescenses (12-18" diameter) bloom in mid-summer to early fall. Flowers are very attractive to butterflies. Flowers give way to attractive seed heads, which persist well into winter. Kemper Center

The plant is named for Joe Pye (or Jopi), who, according to folklore, was a traveling Native American medicine man. He lived in New England around the time of the American Revolution and may have been from a tribe in Maine. He sold various herbal remedies to the colonists and apparently treated typhoid fever with the plant that bears his name to this day. http://hometown.aol.com/ag2web/flowers

Eupatorium purpureum subsp. maculatum 'Gateway' Growing and Maintenance Tips

E. maculatum will thrive best in moist, fertile soils. If soil should dry out, the leaves may appear scorched. This prairie plant is easily propagated by seed, cuttings, division and may also be transplanted in spring. Cut back in early spring and fertilize to promote bushier growth. E. maculatum may be used as a backround plant in border gardens, in meadows and in areas in which it may naturalize.