Which of the Joe-pye weeds is known as chocolate joe-pye weed. Not the cultiver but the one that's supossed to smell really good. And what does it smell like? Does Sweet joe-pye weed smell better?
Chocolate Joe-pye weed
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/94352/
I have this one that is Eupatorium 'Chocolate'
My nose is poor and I can't tell you if it has a chocolate scent. I always thought chocolate referred to the foliage. Don't know anything about sweet eupatorium.
Al
Yes, it refers to the foliage color and let me warn you - it is VERY INVASIVE! I regret the day I planted it. Dealing with it for years now after it reared its ugly (seed) head. Admire it in someone else's garden.
Victor
I never heard of a chocolate smelling one, just the cultivar Chocolate which is named for the leaf color not the scent.
Nice pic Al--I'm actually trying a cultivar called 'Bartered Bride' this year. Hope its not a reseeding nightmare here.....
Sometimes one zone makes a difference as it barely makes it through the winter here and doesn't seed as I've seen yet. Any zones higher maybe it's a problem. The native eupatorium certainly forms large clumps in the wild I know.
Well, we shall see...I certainly have the space for it.
Hasn't been invasive in ne IL; can't say it's little white flowers smell and the dark foliage shifts to green when it starts blooming. Kind of a novelty but nothing special.
I keep pulling up little tidbits from internet searching about this or that one smelling like vanilla. If only I could find the right one.
My 'Chocolate' is behaving alright but it's only a second year plant. The weird thing is that I put down seed for it like 4 years ago and it took this long for one to sprout.
Will it become invasive if I dead head it? I'm still trying to get rid of the nightmare catnip I planted in the same butterfly garden.
I know which plant you're talking about, Capt, it's Eupatorium purpureum. The leaves smell like vanilla, especially in the summer when the leaves heat up in the sun. It's very nice and quite strong. It grows wild in wet areas all over southeastern MA where I live when I'm not in school. I have some on my property. This is one of the plants that people sometimes call "Sweet Joe Pye Weed". I think there are others that have the scent you are talking about, but this is the most common one. I'll attach a picture of a wild example that grows in one of my bogs.
-Greg
Edited to say I also grow the 'Chocolate' cultivar of E. rugosum. I deadhead it when the flowers start to brown up a little, and I haven't had any problems with reseeding. To keep it from getting vegetatively aggressive, I just cut the offset stalks as soon as they pop up, and I keep fertilizer as far away from the plant as possible. If it gets even a whiff of fertilizer, it takes off and gets really aggressive. I grow it in full sun, but I've heard it behaves itself a lot better with some shade in the afternoon. Too little sun, and the bloom might be affected.
This message was edited Jun 15, 2006 3:13 PM
This is what my Chocolate has done...reverting to green and seeding all over the pace..I can't get rid of it!!
I would love to smell your sweet joe-pye weed. Lol. Are they as aggressive as the 'Chocolate'? I don't really have any moist locations for it besides near the woods but I understand they can do well in some shade.
My 'Chocolate' is partcially shaded by the milkweed in my butterfly garden. I'm going to stay ontop of it and make sure it doesn't have a chance to seed.
If it gets out of control, I'll just get rid of them, like I'm still trying to do with my catnip... >:(
I haven't grown them in my garden area before, but they kind of come and go depending on the year. Some years, though, they seem to self-seed pretty aggressively. I doubt individual plants are as thuggish vegetatively as Eupatorium rugosum, though. Most of the plants I see are just single or double stalks, whereas my 'Chocolate' throws new growth every other day it seems. They do best in sun w/ moisture, but if the ground is dry, you'll want to keep them out of the afternoon sun, so yes, they can be grown in shade and they'll do ok. Some of my wild ones grow in the shade out of the boggy area. They aren't quite as big, but they bloom nicely.
-Greg