Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe'
Eutrochium dubium 'Little Joe' · Asteraceae
A Joe Pye weed scaled down for ordinary gardens: mauve-pink domes on sturdy, chest-high stems that never need staking.
- Size
- 4 ft tall, 2½ ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late July to early September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe'
The planner designed this bed around Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' × 4, pink
- 2 Winter heath × 4, white
- 3 Coral bells 'Firefly' × 5, red
- 4 Hyssop 'Blue Fortune' × 3, lavender
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Black-eyed Susan × 5, yellow
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 4, purple
- 8 Spring starflower × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only flat plates. The others are bells, airy sprays, spires and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- A classic partner for black-eyed Susan. Both are on this plan. A pairing gardeners have proved outranks a general rule.
- The only pink.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 4 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 black-eyed Susan (24 in), ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' (2½ ft) and hyssop 'Blue Fortune' (3 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 4 plants in 2 groups (3 and 1). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From late July to early September.
- Part of the bed's peak. With coral bells 'Firefly', hyssop 'Blue Fortune' and black-eyed Susan in late July: 4 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 5 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The most in flower at one time is 4 kinds, in late July. Silver sage, winter heath and coral bells 'Firefly' finish the front edge.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' goes in a border
At 4 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
It gives the same dusky domes as the giants at two-thirds the height, so it suits a bed of normal depth. Good with the blue of late asters and the plumes of switchgrass.
- Late-summer height in a medium-sized bed
- Rain gardens
- Butterfly gardens
What to plant with Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- New England aster: medium leaves against its bold ones; happy in the same moist soil.
- Switchgrass 'Shenandoah': its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; fine leaves against its bold ones.
- Black-eyed Susan: in flower together for seven weeks, from late July; medium leaves against its bold ones; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe'
Does Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' need sun or shade?
Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' 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, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. It copes with soil that stays wet.
What zones does Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' 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 Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late July to early September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early August to early September |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late July to early September |
| Zone 6 | Late July to early September |
| Zone 7 | Mid July to early September |
| Zone 8 | Mid July to early 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 Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' be planted?
24 in (60 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 2½ ft (75 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 4 ft (120 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' plants do I need?
At 24 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 3 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 6 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 10 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used four in two groups.
Is Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' 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 Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe'?
Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' is over by early September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- New England aster: from early September to mid October, 4 ft tall (a recorded partner).
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Montauk daisy: from mid September to late October, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' look like in winter?
Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' 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 Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' good for bees and butterflies?
Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' is visited by pollinators, butterflies and songbirds.
It is native to the United States and Canada (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Eutrochium
- Hollow Joe-Pye weed Eutrochium fistulosum
- Joe Pye weed 'Gateway' Eutrochium maculatum 'Gateway'
- 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
- Salt-tolerant plants for roadsides and coasts
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Tall perennials and grasses for the back of a border
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 4 ft (120 cm) tall, 2½ ft (75 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late July to early September; flat plates; pink
- Leaves
- Bold texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Comes from
- Eastern coastal plains and wetlands from Maine to South Carolina
- Attracts
- Pollinators, butterflies, songbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, salt, 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.