Hollow Joe-Pye weed
Eutrochium fistulosum · Asteraceae
The giant of the family: hollow, wine-purple stems, taller than a door, carry huge domes of dusty mauve-pink flowers covered in butterflies.
- Size
- 7 ft tall, 4 ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late July to mid September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around hollow Joe-Pye weed
The planner designed this bed around hollow Joe-Pye weed when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why hollow Joe-Pye weed stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Hollow Joe-Pye weed × 1, pink
- 2 Winter heath × 11, white
- 3 Carpathian bellflower × 9, blue
- 4 Culver's root × 4, lavender
- 5 Southernwood × 3, grey-green leaves
- 6 Lowbush blueberry × 13, white
- 7 Easter lily × 5, white
- 8 Camassia × 5, blue
Why this plant
- The only bold leaves here. The rest are fine and medium. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
- The only dense clusters. The others are bells, spires and trumpets. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only pink.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 7 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Culver's root (5 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A feature plant is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for 8 weeks. From late July to mid September.
- Closes the season. For its last three weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 50% of the planted ground. The flowers stay on the cool side of the palette: pink, blue, lavender and white. White runs through the planting: 3 of the 7 kinds grown for their flowers have it.
The planner's own design check: 9 Excellent, 7 Good, 1 Satisfactory.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where hollow Joe-Pye weed goes in a border
At 7 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is super tall (over 6½ ft).
Its job: specimen. A feature plant with a shape of its own. It stands alone with room around it, and repeats only at a distance.
A plant for the back of a big, damp border or the edge of a pond, where its scale can be enjoyed. It stands without staking, and the seed heads last into winter.
- The back of a large, moist border
- Swallowtail and monarch butterflies
- Pond margins and rain gardens
What to plant with hollow Joe-Pye weed
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- New York ironweed: in flower together for six weeks, from early August; medium leaves against its bold ones; happy in the same moist soil.
- Switchgrass 'Cloud Nine': in flower together for six weeks, from early August; fine leaves against its bold ones.
- Sneezeweed: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for six weeks; medium leaves against its bold ones; low enough (4 ft) to stand in front of it.
Questions about hollow Joe-Pye weed
Does hollow Joe-Pye weed need sun or shade?
Hollow Joe-Pye weed grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and plenty of water. It copes with soil that stays wet.
What zones does hollow Joe-Pye weed grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does hollow Joe-Pye weed flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late July to mid September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early August to mid September |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late July to mid September |
| Zone 6 | Late July to mid September |
| Zone 7 | Mid July to mid September |
| Zone 8 | Mid July to mid September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should hollow Joe-Pye weed be planted?
3½ ft (100 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 4 ft (120 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 7 ft (210 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many hollow Joe-Pye weed plants do I need?
At 3½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 1 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 3 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, with clear ground around it: a feature plant is seen as an object, and a group of them is a thicket.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is hollow Joe-Pye weed poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat hollow Joe-Pye weed?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after hollow Joe-Pye weed?
Hollow Joe-Pye weed is over by mid September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- New England aster: from early September to mid October, 4 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Swamp sunflower: from late September to late October, 6½ ft tall.
What does hollow Joe-Pye weed look like in winter?
Hollow Joe-Pye weed dies down, but leave the stems standing: the seed heads stand through the winter, and songbirds eat the seed. Cut them down in early spring, before the new shoots come.
Is hollow Joe-Pye weed good for bees and butterflies?
Hollow Joe-Pye weed is visited by pollinators, bees, butterflies and songbirds.
It is a host plant: the caterpillars of pearl crescent feed on its leaves. A butterfly can only lay its eggs on its host plants, so these do more for it than any nectar flower.
It is native to the United States.
More Eutrochium
- Joe Pye weed 'Gateway' Eutrochium maculatum 'Gateway'
- Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' Eutrochium dubium 'Little Joe'
- Joe-Pye weed 'Baby Joe' Eutrochium dubium 'Baby Joe'
- Spotted Joe-Pye weed Eutrochium maculatum
- Sweet Joe Pye weed Eutrochium purpureum
In these guides
- Plants for wet soil and rain gardens
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Tall perennials and grasses for the back of a border
- Host plants for the pearl crescent
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 7 ft (210 cm) tall, 4 ft (120 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3½ ft (100 cm) apart
- Height class
- Super tall (over 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late July to mid September; dense clusters; pink, purple
- Leaves
- Bold texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- High
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Comes from
- Eastern North America
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees, butterflies, songbirds
- Host plant for
- Pearl crescent
- Stands up to
- Wet soil
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.