• Home
• About
• Visit
• Plant
  Collections
• Gardens & Climates
• In Bloom
• Plant Finder
• Collections Dept.
• Plant Sales
• Calendar of Events
• Library
• Bookstore
• Education
• Support
• Volunteer

In Bloom

Eupatorium purpureum

"Joe-Pye Weed"

Look for Eupatorium purpureum along the south border of the lawn "allee" (alley) leading to the Zellerbach Garden of Perennials (Bed 58F).

Location Scientific Name Eupatorium purpureum Common Name Joe-Pye Weed Family Asteraceae Plant Type Herbaceous Perennial Environment Moist soil in full sun to part shade. Grows to 10 feet. Best sited as a background plant. Bloom Dusty rose to purple flowers borne in panicles late summer - early autumn. Uses Blooms attract insects and provide food for birds. Also known as "gravel root" this plant has a long history of medicinal use, folk remedies - particularly for use in the treatment of kidney stones. Profile Contributor: Fred Bové

Stand with your back to the Zellerbach Garden of Perennials, look down the broad avenue of lawn in front of you and clumps of Joe-Pye weed are on your right, 10 feet tall, their rosy domes bowing in the breeze - a wildflower that in six months grows as tall as a small tree.

It blooms in late summer in meadows and at the edge of woodlands in eastern America, and throughout Mexico and central America, part of the huge genus, Eupatorium, that contains 1000 species including "Boneset" and "Snakeroot." Joe-Pye weed's multi-panicles of rose pink disk flowers have a vanilla scent and attract bees and butterflies. The sturdy stem with its many whorls of leaves is flushed with purple at the nodes.

Joe-Pye weed's whimsical name, legend tells us, was that of an Indian witch doctor in colonial New England who supposedly cured Indians and Pilgrims alike from typhoid fever, nervous disorders, and kidney problems with tea made from its leaves.

Contributors: Docents Joanne Taylor and Kathy McNeil

• Archive 2013
• 2012
• 2011
• 2010
• 2009
• 2008
• 2007
• 2006

Magnolia campbellii January	Magnolia denudata February	Magnolia x veitchii March
Iris douglasiana April

Acer palmatum 'Sango kaku' January	Magnolia campbellii 'Darjeeling' February	Bomarea spp. March
Rhododendron occidentale April	Polystichum munitum May	x Chiranthofremontia lenzii June
Salvia leucantha July	Hydrangea seemannii August	Wollemia nobilis September
Cyathea cooperi October	Pinus radiata November	Correa spp. December

Garrya elliptica January	Magnolia x soulangeana February	Senecio glastifolius March
Ribes spp. April	Oxalis oregana May	Calandrinia grandiflora June
Taxus baccata July	Romneya coulteri August	Passiflora parritae September
Malvaviscus arboreus October	Monterey Cypress November	Aloe arborescens December

Aloe plicatilis January	Banksia seminuda February	Zantedeschia aethiopica March
Magnolia laevifolia April	Araucaria heterophylla May	Toxicodendron diversilobum June
Clarkia sp. July	Agapanthus August	Brugmansia September
Cedrus spp. October	Protea repens November	Camellia sinensis December

Thujopsis dolabrata January	Gordonia longicarpa February	Rojasianthe superba March
Echium spp. April	Iris douglasiana May	Digitalis purpurea June
Felicia amelloides July	Ceroxylon quindiuense August	Amaryllis belladonna September
Ginkgo biloba October	Acer morrisonense November	Ilex aquifolium December

Picea sitchensis January	Telanthophora grandifolia February	Aeonium arboreum 'Schwartzkopf' March
Leptospermum April	Salvia gesneraeflora May	Lavandula spp. June
Pelargonium July	Fuchsia paniculata August	Luma apiculata September
Luculia October	Arbutus unedo November	Cycad December

Restionaceae January	Hellebores February	Ceanothus March
Rhododendron April	Psoralea pinnata May	Fremontodendron californicum June
Leucadendron argenteum July	Crocosmia August	Gunnera tinctoria September
Pellaea rotundifolia October	Fuchsia boliviana November	Erica canaliculata December

Magnolia campbelli January	Magnolia denudata February	Camellia March
Geranium maderense April	Acmena smithii May	Eschscholzia californica June
Dendromecon harfordii July	Romneya coulteri August	Eupatorium purpureum September
Epilobium canum sp. October	Grevillea spp. November	Drimys winteri December