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| My rain garden, me, and my tallest perennial |
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| This is a plant I can really look up to! |
Ironweed (Vernonia gigantea, formerly Vernonia altissima)
Ironweed is a Kentucky native plant and it has been extremely happy in my rain garden this year. Normally it doesn't grow over 8' tall in cultivation, although it can reach 10' in the wild. I'm 6' tall, so you can see that it has been an overachiever this year!
Ironweed normally starts blooming in August around here, but this year it began mid-July, probably because we've had a hot spring and summer. It can tolerate "wet feet," which is why it lives in my rain garden, although it also grows thickly in relatively dry pasture land nearby.
The origin of the common name "ironweed" is uncertain. However, the stems of this plant are very tough and difficult to cut or pull out of the ground, and the seed heads are a rusty brown color.
