Verbesina Species, Wingstem, Yellow Ironweed

This is a tough tall plant from the tall grass prairie, and can reach 8' high under garden conditions. The strong winged stems never lodg...Read Moree and remain erect through the winter.

The small yellow daisy flower heads come in August to October in large terminal clusters. The ray flowers sometimes fail to develop, and this perennial has been criticized as not having enough flower power for the mixed border. Piet Oudolf admires it for the meadow garden.

Highly adaptable, best in full sun. Hardy in Z4. The flowers feed bees and butterflies, and the seedheads attract birds. No serious pest or disease problems.

This species may self-sow.

I just discovered this nice native perennial growing wild in the Blinky Lee Land Preserve in southeast PA in August 2015 in restored nati...Read Moreve meadow, full of Big Bluestem grass. It looks as though it does not lodge even though it is a tall perennial, staying upright. Its leaves and stems are very rough to the touch. Its stems look interesting being winged much of the length. The leaves are alternate. A Field Guide To Wildflowers by Peterson & McKenny use the generic name of Actinomeris, but since it is so similar to the Crown-Beards of Verbesina that the change of name seems good to me. Its foliage is bitter, so deer and rabbits don't feed on it, but there are some beneficial insects that do and not badly. The flowers are good for pollinating insects and the seed is eaten by birds. It likes well-drained soils or moist soils of riparian areas. I bet it does well in a pH range of 6.0 to 7.5, but I don't know how much farther. Some native plant nurseries sell the seed and a few also plants. Once source warned that it can produce long rhizomes to form a colony and it was reported from Virginia that was colonizing too much in a riparian area. A good plant for naturalistic landscapes.

This Plant is a Nice Fall Bloomer. It Does Not Like the Sun so plant it in shade.