Tigers

Down along the driveway and scattered up the hillside are these plants the butterflies are nectaring on.. Can anyone identify the plant? Every so often I see a hummingbird on them also, but it's the butterflies that seem more attracted to them..

Looks like joe-pye weed to me. One of the best butterfly plants I have ever found- I love mine.

I am counting 10 bfs in that picture! Super butterfly magnet.

That's pretty neat. I have never seen a Joe Pye W. so adorned!

I wonder if that one has especially juicy nectar...?

Mine seem to go unnoticed...maybe the wrong variety?

I would like to get some Joe Pye-Weed. Does anyone know a source for it??? Would appreciate it.

Thanks lybzephyr. The whole side of the drive is loaded with it..

Sheila , your eyes must be better than mine... I got to nine and couldn't find the tenth!!! haa!!

tabasco. My guess would be the wrong variety.. After getting the id from lybzepher I searched it out and found that there were a few different varieties... This must be the wild type..

hemlady, I'll see if I can collect some seed this fall and if you want I will send you some.. That goes for anyone else that might want to try and grow this... Should be plenty of seed I would think with all the pollinating going on..

One more..

That would be great. Thanks!!!!

It's probably 'Gateway' Joe Pye Weeds mine get about 7-8' tall in the field I have one plant against the house and trim it back so it only gets about 4' the butterflies do love them I have the Tigers and Black Swallowtails on them constantly :) They are easy to WS that's how I planted mine just pitched some seed in and scattered some dirt on top not thick just enough to hold the seeds down:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57520/

Good luck!

I have 2 plants of Joe Pye "Carin" and 2 of the species that I dug from the roadside. The only difference I can see is that Carin is a bit shorter: 8 ft here instead of the 10 ft the species gets. BFs love them both. They are my best butterfly magnets, too. With various tall Phlox and 'Blue Fortune' Hyssop blooming next to the Joe Pyes, the BFs prefer the "weed." This pic is "Carin" last year.

Wonderful shots you two. If I have more than three in a picture I feel double blessed!

This message was edited Aug 15, 2010 1:07 PM

Uncle ..... I would LOVE to have some of those seed! ! !

LeBug.... what is WS? Still learning acronyms here

Crit....that was short for winter sow...she was discussing the JPW (Joe Pye Weed) plants.

Yes Crit, WS is winter sowing it's easy, there is a whole forum on WS if you are wanting to try it :)

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/coldsow/all/

BTW see you are new to DG's Welcome!

Thanks LeBug. I'm thrilled I found this sight. I just googled and picked this one! Think I made a good choice. :-))

hemlady, Crit;.

DM me you mailing addresses.. Some of these seed will be ready soon... I'll send them out as soon as I get them collected... If anyone else would like some, theres going to be plenty too go around! I should be able to start harvesting them in about a week....


Dave

Dave, thanks for the offer but I actually managed to get a Joe Pye Weed the other day. I went to the farm market to get some veggies and they had all their perennials for 2.50. I am very happy that I was able to get one but my daughter just frowned at me and said
"Mom, do you know how big these things get?" I said no, but I'll deal with it, lol.

THANKS. DM sent to you

Very nice of you to offer those.

What a sweetie..... huh?

Glad you found some hemlady;,

Yes, they can get tall!! I noticed if they are growing amongst other tall plants, they will grow above them.. They seem to want to be the tallest plant in the area... I have some Iron weed in one area and they are taller than those..


Dave

I love the ironweed and frostweed for the butterflies, but they do get tall. I try to start pruning them back early on so it will bush them out and they won't get extremely tall. I am assuming the JPW will take pruning early on as well?

I'd wet my pants to have that many butterflies on one bush, how wonderful, wish I had a yard big enough for that bush. Wow!

hemlady, you can wait until your joe pye weed gets a couple foot tall next year and trim them back I just cut the tips of them off then they don't get as tall and big around that's what I do with mine against the house takes them a little longer to bloom that way but not that much of a difference :) They only get about half the size that way.

I'm so excited to have stumbled onto this thread...just random reading...as I just bought a 'Gateway' Joe Pye Weed this morning at our local arboretum plant sale. Now, after reading your enthusiastic endorsements and seeing the beautiful photos, I can't wait for mine to grow. Is full sun best or does a little afternoon shade help? I live in the country so it can be pretty windy, and Kansas does get hot!!! Also, I did happen to see Joe Pye Seed listed in looking through seeds on the Swallowtail Seed website. I didn't read up on it at the time, so I don't know what kind, but I think they do often carry good butterfly varieties. Thanks for making my day!

This message was edited Sep 11, 2010 7:58 PM

My JPW is in full sun here and does wonderful - even after the horrific summer we've had here it's blooming just fine and looking pretty. I have three plants of it now. The first one I planted two years ago and small starts appeared last spring so I put those where I wanted and now all three look great. Such an easy plant to care for and the butterflies lose their minds over it.

Dave,

Have you collected any of your seed yet? I DM'd you my address a while back.

Thanks so much ! ! !

Hi Crit;,,

Just got back from the postoffice ... Harvested seed yesterday... Sent them first class and heading in everyones direction this morning while in town.. Sorry for the delay. Been busy putting up another greenhouse....


Dave

(((hugs!))))

Oohhhhhhhhh ..... THANKS so much! ! ! I'll be waiting on the mail man everyday until they come. :-)) You're a gem. (((((Dave)))))

I have a question about the black swallowtails. I had tons of them in the spring and summer. It seems the last 4-6 weeks they have all disappeared. It seems awfully early for them to be disappearing. Anyone have an idea where they might of gone?

Got my seeds Dave...thanks for being so generous!! I will no doubt have some going by next summer.

Guess I'd better go check my mail box ! ! ! :-))

:-( Nope, not yet. Maybe Monday or Tuesday. Hope, hope, hope.

Crit my butterflies are slowing down now too they are getting ready to migrate I'm sure about the only ones I have left are the spicebush swallowtail and monarchs, I think the only reason I have the monarchs is because I had so many cats and still finding smaller ones I still have some BST cats too but haven't seen the butterflies lately.

Dave,
The seeds you sent to me still have not arrived. Are you sure you got me in the group of mailings? I would think they would be here since Sheila in Ft. Worth got hers Saturday. :-(

Crit;,

I'll send out another bunch... I sent the last ones a week ago Friday.. Something must of happened to them.. I'm sure I wrote the right address on the envelope.. I double checked the addresses before I took them to the post office...


Dave

Look between the seats in your car, etc. I have swore a bill was paid only to find on the way to the PO in fell in the cracks.

Dave,

I received the Joe Pye seeds. Thank you ever so much! ! ! The others never did show up. I can't wait to grow this plant! ! ! ! Is it spring yet????? :-))

Dave,
Do you have anymore of those great looks plants seeds? I'd love some if possible.
Don LaClair