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| The garden fragrance is powerful from Joe Pye, Bee Balm, roses, and various mints. |
This morning I looked out the kitchen sink window and saw a hummingbird in the bright sunshine working up to the top of one plant, then sipping from the top of Joe Pye. Those Joe Pye plants seemed to be taking root sporadically last year, but this year they form a solid front in the first rows of the former berry patch. Upvote 1.
Ranger Bob told me how pleased he was with his Joe Pye, but worried it was shading the glads (which still have a few flowers left). I said, "You can cut the Joe Pye back soon. They will return next year even stronger. I am already cutting some stalks and using them as mulch." Upvote 2.
Mrs. Gardener said, "What are those tall purple flowers?" I told her about Joe Pye the American Indian who used that herb for making medicine. She went on to say, "I like having those tiny bees for my vegetable garden. The bees used to be sparse, but they are all over my plants now, thanks to you." Upvote 3.
Joe Pye is far beyond what most people would expect in a butterfly-hummingbird plant. They are modular rather than integrated. The stalks rise up to eight feet in a large V formation, elbowing everything else to the side or into the oblivion of shade. All the weeds disappear in the shadows of Joe Pye.
What about crowding out the Hosta and Clethra? Joe Pyes grow right up against both, which are either bullies (Hosta) or persistent (Clethra). To give them more space, I cut Pye fronds at the bottom. They all seem pretty happy anyway.
Finally I trimmed the overlapping Bee Balm (mint) and Joe Pye, both reaching for sun by growing horizontally over the driveway. That also brought the eye-level bee buzzing closer to visitors, so I cleared a bunch of both plants and laid them over grassy weed patches.
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| Little Joe Pye grows shoulder high, while the tall version grows 8 or 9 feet. |
One couple decided on Little Joe Pye because of size limitations. Most patios and gardens would be happy with Little Joe. I liked their enthusiasm for the small version, so I filled the original berry patch, small gardening areas with sun, with Little Joe Pye. They seemed tiny and weak at first, but the earlier ones are waist high and the new ones are catching up. Upvote 4.
Unlike many plants shipped - where they endure lack of sun and water - Joe Pye's roots will hold fast and deliver the plant in the first year (a bit weak), the second year (confident and strong) and the third year (what have I done!?).
Are they swallowing up the roses? The Rose Garden is east facing, so the plants get plenty of sun, too much when it is 100 degrees (this week - real feel - 212 Fahrenheit). I am cutting out unwelcome weed bullies and pruning large Joe Pye plants, so the roses have some shade and plenty of sun.
I found one healthy Veterans Honor rose producing one fat to-die-for flower after another, right next to a Joe Pye, an F in garden design, an A+ in production.
I am also daily tending (pruning) the Shasta Daisies, because they host insects that protect the roses. Aphids? Sure, a few start munching roses early in the season, but that only alerted the aphid eaters to lay some eggs near them so their babies could have a hearty breakfast.
I was never a fan of John Lennon, but I was intrigued to learn that he began scoffing at evolution, late in his short life. Evolution is like Objective Justification, protected by smearing and insulting anyone who dissents from the newly discovered - or rather newly invented - truth. I may be a careless gardener, but He who cares for all has created and engineered garden life - below, and also above - to reach its maximum and even repair my mistakes.
