A GOOD YEAR FOR JOE PYE WEED

JOE PYE WEED

Friday, 9:00 AM.  65 degrees F at the ferry dock, 62 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, calm with light gusts.  Humidity 90% after a trace of rain earlier. Barometer 29.86" and falling, predicting a chance of rain today and tomorrow, then clearing with yet another chance of rain on Wednesday. I saw a humming bird again yesterday.
   The summer has had plenty of rain, which will transition into a fall with late  color.  Ample moisture has meant good growth and fruit production, and the flourishing of species that require wet or damp conditions, such as Joe Pye Weed, Eupatorium maculatum, in the Sunflower family.  It is a  tall, strong growing perennial herb found throughout much of North America in rich, damp soils, and in the wild is found in prairies, meadows and roadside ditches.  It grows in full sun to part shade. It has distinctive whorled leaves.
   It is named after an American Indian herbal healer called Joe Pye, and another common name for it is gravel root, as it is effective in the treatment of kidney stones. This plant is in our garden, but it is prominent now along the roadsides.

 

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