Look around, and you can see these "weeds" growing everywhere.  And they're blooming right now, along roadsides, in meadows, down by the creek.

 

Botanically, it is Eupatorium purpureum, and is in the sunflower family.  Its common name is Joe Pye Weed, or Queen of the Meadow, Gravel Root, Kidney Root, and Purple Boneset.  It is indigenous to the Eastern United States, and grows to a height of 12 feet or more.

 

Joe Pye Weed is very attractive to butterflies, bees, and other nectar-eating insects, and is a larval host plant for Clymene moth.  

 

Joe Pye was an herb doctor in New England during colonial times.  He used Eupatorium to treat a variety of ailments, as some of the common names suggest.   And folklore says that American colonists used it to treat typhus outbreaks.  In the 18th century Native Indians used it in the treatment of kidney stones and other urinary tract ailments.

 

Let's steer clear of the medicinal uses for Joe Pye Weed; and just enjoy its beauty in the meadows.  That's my plan.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!