These plants tower over you!

photo by H. Magnani

It has been a crazy busy summer! I've just gotten around to taking some more pictures of our garden.
I just took this shot with my son who stands 4'6" tall. He is standing in front of the Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum), it is the one with the little yellow flowers. This plant is less known for its showy flowers and more for the way the leaves tightly circle the stem. These leaves catch water and hold it for insects, butterflies and birds to drink. It is also very tall and acts as a nice screening plant. To my son's right is the Sweet Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum). This one is just about to bloom and is currently reaching over TEN FEET TALL. If you look in the lower right hand corner, you can see some concrete reinforcing fencing that I've secured with some green fence posts. I put this up in April knowing that the Joe-Pye would get this high and inevitably lean over. This mesh "fence" comes in 4' X 8' pieces and I've shoved about 4" of it into the dirt and then secured it to the fence posts with zip ties. I need to do the same on the other side, otherwise we run some of them over with the mower. I personally like seeing the Joe-Pye stand tall into the sun and watching the hub of activity that will happen once those blooms open. ~Holly M

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