I know we’re getting toward the end of the peak growing season when my Joe Pye weed plants start blooming.
I grow the native plant plus two cultivars (‘Little Joe’ and ‘Baby Joe’) that are not supposed to get as high as the native (which peaks at about 12 feet in my yard). Those smaller cultivars still get about 6 to 8 feet tall.
Bees and butterflies love Joe Pye weed.
The only thing you have to watch out for with this native plant is that it prefers regular watering. The leaves may start to get brown and crunchy in dry conditions.
Like a lot of areas of the country, southern Wisconsin is in the midst of a drought right now (although thankfully it has rained a little bit here and there so we’re only in a moderate drought so far). I have been making sure to water all my Joe Pye weed clumps so all of them are blooming happily with leaves that are still green.