Spotted Joe-Pye weed
Eutrochium maculatum · Asteraceae
Flat-topped heads of rosy-purple flowers on stout stems speckled and streaked with dark purple, with whorls of long leaves.
- Size
- 5½ ft tall, 3 ft wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Mid July to early September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around spotted Joe-Pye weed
The planner designed this bed around spotted Joe-Pye weed when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why spotted Joe-Pye weed stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Spotted Joe-Pye weed × 1, pink
- 2 Winter heath × 11, white
- 3 Sea thrift × 5, pink
- 4 Little bluestem × 3, blue-green leaves
- 5 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 3, blue
- 6 Black-eyed Susan 'Goldsturm' × 3, yellow
- 7 Star of Persia × 4, purple
- 8 Hyacinth × 12, 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, globes, airy sprays and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5½ 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 little bluestem (3 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 mid July to early September.
- Fills a gap. For one of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 51% of the planted ground. Cool colours (pink, blue and purple) with yellow as the warm note, and white to calm things between them. The front edge is finished with winter heath and sea thrift.
The planner's own design check: 9 Excellent, 7 Good, 1 Satisfactory. 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 spotted Joe-Pye weed goes in a border
At 5½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is very tall (5 to 6½ ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The hardiest Joe-Pye weed, native as far north as Newfoundland. Its flat heads repeat the shape of yarrow and sedum on a giant scale, and draw every butterfly in the garden.
- Native planting for wet soil
- Butterflies in late summer
- The back of a moist border
What to plant with spotted Joe-Pye weed
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Swamp milkweed: in flower together for four weeks, from mid July; medium leaves against its bold ones; happy in the same moist soil.
- Blue vervain: in flower together for eight weeks, from mid July; medium leaves against its bold ones; happy in the same moist soil.
- Boneset: in flower together for six weeks, from early August; medium leaves against its bold ones.
Questions about spotted Joe-Pye weed
Does spotted Joe-Pye weed need sun or shade?
Spotted 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 spotted Joe-Pye weed grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °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 spotted Joe-Pye weed flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid July to early September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Late July to early September |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late July to early September |
| Zone 5 | Mid July to early September |
| Zone 6 | Mid 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 spotted Joe-Pye weed be planted?
2½ ft (75 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3 ft (90 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5½ ft (170 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many spotted Joe-Pye weed plants do I need?
At 2½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 2 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 5 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 6 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 one in one group.
Is spotted 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 spotted Joe-Pye weed?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after spotted Joe-Pye weed?
Spotted Joe-Pye weed is over by early 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.
- Korean feather reed grass: from late August to mid October, 4 ft 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.
What does spotted Joe-Pye weed look like in winter?
Spotted 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 spotted Joe-Pye weed good for bees and butterflies?
Spotted Joe-Pye weed is visited by pollinators, bees, butterflies and songbirds.
It is native to the United States.
More Eutrochium
- Hollow Joe-Pye weed Eutrochium fistulosum
- 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'
- Sweet Joe Pye weed Eutrochium purpureum
In these guides
- Plants for wet soil and rain gardens
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- 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
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 5½ ft (170 cm) tall, 3 ft (90 cm) wide
- Plant
- 2½ ft (75 cm) apart
- Height class
- Very tall (5 to 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Mid July to early September; dense clusters; pink, purple
- Leaves
- Bold texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 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
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, 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.