The Medicine Man Flower

Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: 2021/08 – August

My father-in-law advised that, “It rains every day in the mountains.” 

That was a prophecy borne out in 2020. With well over 100 inches reported, it was a genuinely soggy year. Spectrum News, deemed Highlands “the undisputed champion of rainfall with the highest precipitation reported in the nation, beating even the notorious rainy Northwest.” 

Since dealing with excessive rain is no small challenge, I sought the advice of Rachel Martin, a horticulturist at the Highlands
Botanical Center.  

She says that it can be challenging selecting plants able to tolerate saturated soils and standing water.  One that can is the 2017 North Carolina Wildflower of the Year, the Hollow Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium Fistulosum). Its name is that of an Indian medicine man, Joe Pye, who, as legend has it, used concoctions made from native wildflowers to cure typhoid – his brew so effective that it was credited for halting an epidemic. 

An upright clump-forming perennial with clusters of lustrous pearly pink buds that open into tiny fringed blossoms of lavender-purple flower, it has a mostly hollow stem.   The late-blooming and long-lasting blooms will give way to lovely soft buff-colored seed heads, providing a welcome garden presence at a time when choices are limited.  

Because this is a large plant, it towers anywhere from 4 to 6 feet tall; it should be planted where its stature can be appreciated – in a mixed border, in meadows, or in wild or other naturalized areas. The fetching large domed head looks good in the foreground, background, or anywhere else in the garden. Or, as one irreverent gardener noted, “A guy named Joe ain’t fussy.” 

Spring or fall is most suitable for planting.  It prefers full to partial sun and performs best in fertile moist, well-drained to seasonally wet, alkaline soils. Pinch the growth buds or even cut plants back by half in early summer to achieve stockier plants with smaller yet more abundant flowers.  Divide the plants in fall as they go dormant or in the spring when shoots first appear to propagate new plants. Cut them back to the ground in late winter.  

The merits of the Joe Pye Weed are considerable.  Honeybees, bumblebees, and other long-tongued bees visit the flowers from summer to early fall, and mammals typically steer away. Another benefit often overlooked is that it brings into the garden a feeling of movement. Or, as one gardener rhapsodized, “I cannot think of a lovelier sight than the flower clusters of Joe Pye Weed swaying gently in the breeze and covered with the monarch butterflies that find the clusters much to their taste.”

Visitors to the Highlands Biological Station can discover the Hollow Joe Pye Weed at several spots: at the entrance bed adjacent to the Nature Center, on the North Campus pollinator garden, and along the edge of the Bog.  As Rachel told me, “This prolific species will do well in a lot of different areas.”