I learned that one simple gardening trick can boost harvests quickly while cutting pest numbers almost in half. The trick is companion planting: nature’s way of helping plants work better together.
After many seasons of trial and error, this method turned my weak veggie beds into a healthy, busy garden in no time.
No need to stress about fancy layouts. These 10 plant partners work well with little effort. Ready to match plants the easy way? Let’s go.
Plant Partners That Work Wonders
1. Tomatoes & Basil: A Reliable Match
This pair isn’t just delicious on the plate. Basil’s strong smell helps keep away pests like aphids and hornworms that usually bother tomatoes.
Growing them together can even make tomatoes taste better. (Seriously. My tomatoes tasted so much better once I planted basil beside them.)
2. Carrots & Onions: A Simple Defense
Carrot flies can wipe out a crop fast, but onions help block them. In return, carrots help loosen the soil for onion bulbs. They just work well together.
3. Corn & Beans: The Old “Three Sisters” Duo
This old planting method makes sense. Beans add nitrogen to the soil, which corn needs. The corn stalks give the beans something to climb. It’s a natural setup that works smoothly.
4. Cucumbers & Nasturtiums: The Decoy
Nasturtiums act like bait, pulling pests like aphids and beetles away from cucumbers. They also have pretty flowers that you can eat with a pepper-like taste.
5. Peppers & Marigolds: Root Protectors
A common mistake is planting peppers without help. Marigold roots release compounds that chase away nematodes that damage pepper roots.
Some studies show that marigolds can reduce nematode populations by up to 90%. Their blooms look nice, too.
6. Lettuce & Radishes: Soil Helpers
Radishes break up compacted soil, allowing lettuce roots to grow deeper. This makes lettuce stronger on hot and dry days. Radishes also grow fast, so you get an early harvest while waiting for your lettuce.
7. Squash & Borage: Bee Magnets
Squash needs more bees, and borage attracts them. These bright blue flowers pull in loads of pollinators and help keep pests away from squash. Knowing this pairing gives you better fruit.
8. Potatoes & Horseradish: A Surprise Team
This pair sounds odd, but it works. Horseradish contains natural compounds that help keep potatoes strong and beetles away. Plant horseradish at the corners of the potato bed for protection.
9. Strawberries & Thyme: Berry Guards
Slugs love strawberries, but thyme helps stop them with its strong scent. Thyme also acts as ground cover, keeping berries off the soil and reducing fungal problems. Simple and smart.
10. Cabbage & Dill: Friendly Bug Attractors
Dill doesn’t chase pests. Instead, it brings in helpful insects like ladybugs and lacewings that eat cabbage worms. It’s like having tiny guards watching over your cabbages.
Why Companion Planting Works
Companion planting is more than old advice. It’s backed by how plants interact. They use scents and root signals to communicate with one another. The results can be big:
Less pest damage, fewer sprays
Better pollination
Grow more in small spaces
Better soil use
Shade where needed
When you match plants well, everything grows better together.
How To Start
Try just two or three partner groups this season. Watch how plant health, pest problems, and harvest amounts change.
Remember: it’s not just about putting plants next to each other. It’s about letting them support each other. Keep them close but not crowded; about 12–18 inches apart works for most pairs.
With the right partners, your garden becomes a group that works together instead of single plants growing alone. That’s the goal for most of us anyway.
Growing up to 36 inches tall, the four-inch flowers are ideal as cut flowers and for creating colorful borders either alone or paired with yellows and pinks.
A mixture of ball flowers, the Summer Tango collection adds fiery heat to the garden with four-inch globes in glorious shades of burgundy, peachy orange, and purple while the mid-green foliage adds a cooler base.
Dahlias can be propagated by cuttings, tuber division, or seed. However, growing plants from seed is an unreliable method.
Most of the stock available for home gardens comes from hybrid cultivars, which may produce offspring untrue to the parents.
Cuttings
Cuttings are clones of the mother plant, so they always produce the same qualities.
Sprout cuttings can produce up to six new plants from a single tuber, but they require a controlled environment of consistent humidity, warm temperatures, and day length.
Dahlias are photosensitive, and to develop healthy feeder roots as well as tubers, they require a day length of 12 hours or greater. If needed, add a grow light to your setup to meet this rooting requirement.
In late winter or early spring, choose a selection of healthy, firm tubers from your storage bin.
Add four to six inches of moist potting soil to a tray – or create your own soil blend of one half aged compost and one half landscape sand.
Nestle tubers into the soil, covering the bottom two-thirds, but keeping the neck and crown above the soil.
Place the tray in a 65 to 75°F location where it can receive bright indirect light.
Keep the soil moist but not wet, and within three to four weeks, sprouts will emerge from the tubers.
Once the sprouts are three inches or taller, use a clean, sharp knife to carefully cut each sprout away, taking a small notch of tuber with it.
Remove the bottom set of leaves and dip the lower one to two inches of stem into a rooting compound, then gently shake off the excess.
Fill small, four- to six-inch pots with moist potting soil.
Make holes and insert three stems into each pot, one to two inches deep, and gently firm the soil around each stem.
Maintain even moisture in the potting medium, but do not allow it to become waterlogged.
Place in a 65 to 75°F location that receives bright, indirect light for at least 12 hours each day. Roots form in two to three weeks.
Eight to 10 weeks later, sprout cuttings can be transplanted to larger pots, or planted into the garden when soil temperatures warm to 55 to 60°F.
Clusters of half-inch blossoms consist of sparse rays with striking red or purple centers, and grow along only one side of each stem. The foliage matures to deep purple.
This drought-tolerant choice blooms from early summer to mid-fall. It readily naturalizes in moist, woodland settings.
Heights range from four to six inches at maturity. This variety thrives in a full sun location with well-draining soil, and has low water needs, making it suitable for xeriscaping.
Tiny half-inch flowers have slender rays with yellow centers that envelop the dense, creeping foliage.
Look no further for a rock garden star with a bloom time from late summer well into fall. This type resists mildew, and tolerates drought and poor-quality soil.
A cultivar to look for is ‘Bridal Veil,’ which grows up to two feet tall at maturity, and exhibits greater density and an attractive arching growth habit.
The false aster cultivar ‘Snowbank,’ Boltonia asteroides var. latisquama ‘Snowbank,’ aka false chamomile, is a US native perennial for growers in Zones 4 to 9.
It thrives in a full sun location, with medium to moist, well-draining soil. It tolerates dense clay, salt, and some over-saturation.
Unlike the true species that tops out at a leggy five to six feet, ‘Snowbank’ grows to a more compact stature of three to four feet tall at maturity.
Mounding, airy panicles are laden with three-quarter-inch daisy-like flowers consisting of yellow centers and white rays that are sometimes tinged with pink.
Mass plant in drifts, or use as dense hedging. Bloom time is late summer to fall.
The white panicled type, Symphyotrichum lanceolatum, is a US native perennial suitable for Zones 3 to 9, and thrives in full to part sun and moist, well-draining soil.
Clusters of mini-blossoms consist of daisy-like rays with prominent yellow disks that redden with age.
Each measures half to three-quarters of an inch across. Heights vary widely from one to five feet tall at maturity.
This species is remarkable for how it clings to its brown and withered leaves as they curl with age.
After other species drop their foliage, panicled types continue to add texture and interest to the garden.
A. alpinus ‘Wargrave Variety’ is a perennial alpine aster cultivar suitable for growers in Zones 4 to 7.
‘Wargrave Variety’
Flowers resembling daisies consist of sparse lavender-pink rays around prominent gold centers and bloom from late spring to early summer.
With a mature height of between eight and 12 inches tall, each bloom is borne on its own stem, unlike branching, clustered varieties.
This type prefers full sun and average soil that drains well. It is very tolerant of cold, drought, part shade, and poor soil.
11. Wood’s Pink
S. novae-angliae ‘Wood’s Pink,’ a New York native perennial cultivar, is a dwarf type that tops out at 12 to 18 inches tall. It thrives in Zones 4 to 8.
Bloom time is from late summer to early fall, with clusters of semi-double fuchsia rays surrounding vivid gold disks.
With pale green hearts and burgundy outer leaves, ‘Cimmaron’ is an heirloom variety that dates back to the 1700s. Also known as ‘Red Romaine,’ it has a mild, sweet flavor and crunchy texture.
Maturing in just 60 days with 10- to 12-inch-long leaves, this variety looks as good in the garden as it does on the plate!
Bolt- and heat-resistant, ‘Cimarron’ is also lightly frost tolerant, and can be harvested early for baby leaves.
Some sources suggest that this variety has been cultivated in the US since the 1700s, but the ‘Cimarron’ we know today was actually brought to market in 1991 by Dorsing Seeds in Oregon.
The buttery, tender leaves have a mild, almost sweet flavor and grow to a mature height of eight to 12 inches. You can harvest them early if you’re a fan of baby greens.
‘Little Caesar’ has delicate green outer leaves with a light golden center. Smaller than some of the other romaine lettuces, each mature head is the perfect size to make a Caesar salad for two people.
This variety prefers cooler weather, and is not heat tolerant. Growing to a mature height of eight to 12 inches in 70 days, the leaves have a sweet flavor.
With its sweet, nutty flavor and diminutive size, ‘Little Gem’ is the perfect variety for the smaller garden. This heirloom grows up to six inches tall, and takes only 50 days to mature – or 30 days, if you harvest baby greens.
Described in the UK as a “semi-cos,” this variety resembles a small butterhead lettuce, but there is some disagreement among gardeners about how to classify it.
However it is officially classified, it is like a cross between a butterhead lettuce and a romaine. ‘Little Gem’ has soft outer leaves and a tight, dense heart.
Named after Parris Island, located off the coast of South Carolina, this hybrid cultivar has a pale green heart surrounded by dark green, upright outer leaves.
Introduced by the Ferry-Morse Seed Company in 1951, ‘Parris Island’ is a cross between the imaginatively named ‘PI120965’ and ‘Dark Green Cos,’ and was developed by the Agricultural Experiment Station at Clemson College.
Noted for its resistance to tip burn, ‘Parris Island’ is bolt resistant and prefers a full sun location.
‘Paris White’ is a French heirloom variety brought to the US by Thomas Jefferson, and grown at his garden at Monticello.
This slow-growing variety matures in 75 to 85 days. The 10-inch leaves have a crisp texture and sweet flavor. Emerald green outer leaves enclose a pale green heart.
This variety thrives in a full sun or part shade location, and can be harvested early for tender baby greens.
You can find seeds for ‘Paris White’ in a variety of packet sizes from Eden Brothers.
25. Vivian
‘Vivian’ is the largest of all the romaine lettuces I’ve come across. With tightly bunched 12- to 16-inch leaves and a six-inch-wide head, you’ll be able to feef Caesar’s army with this variety.
The giant leaves mature in 70 days, although you can harvest early for smaller greens.
This bolt-resistant variety prefers cool weather and will tolerate a light frost. The wide leaves have a mild, slightly sweet flavor and a delicate texture.
Add ‘Vivian’ to your garden today with packets of 300 seeds, available at Burpee.
26. Winter Density
‘Winter Density’ is a compact romaine with tightly packed, glossy green leaves that form small, dense heads about eight inches tall.
Ready to harvest in 55 to 60 days, it’s hardy enough to withstand cooler conditions and can extend the lettuce season into fall or even early winter with protection.
Influenced by the many years that I spent living in France, when I eat salad as a side dish, I usually want it to be fairly simple – just lettuce with some oil and vinegar, that’s it.
Loose leaf lettuces are the perfect choice for no-fuss side dish salads such as these.
Loose leaf cultivars generally have a mild, sweet flavor, and a texture that is both tender and toothsome – so these fresh greens may be enjoyed without a lot of adornment.
Varieties of this type of lettuce come in shades of yellow, green, red, bronze, and burgundy.
Another low-growing variety that you might enjoy is A. ageratifolia, which has white flowers, silvery-green foliage, and a maximum height of about nine inches.
7. Moonshine
A. millefolium ‘Moonshine’ sports beautiful bright yellow flowers with silvery-green foliage, and grows to a mature height of 18 to to 24 inches tall.
‘Little Moonshine’ is a recent variation of the original ‘Moonshine’ variety, a hybrid of A. clypeolata x A. taygetea.
A. millefolium ‘New Vintage Rose’ is a compact, mounding plant with medium-sized non-fading vibrant deep pink to red flower heads.
Leaves are green, and stems reach 12 to 15 inches in height at maturity.
The intense color of this type is best as a stand-alone specimen in gardens and containers. A striking violet ‘New Vintage’ cultivar is also available at some nurseries.
9. Paprika
A. millefolium ‘Paprika’ is a Galaxy series hybrid that has green leaves and dusty brick red flowers that measure a medium-sized two to three inches across.
Reaching a mature height of twelve to 30 inches, it’s perfect for bouquets or to save as a dried flower.
A variety of package sizes – from 400 milligrams up through a whopping one-pound sack – are available from Eden Brothers.
11. Strawberry Seduction
From the Seduction series comes A. millefolium ‘Strawberry Seduction,’ with medium-sized flowers that resemble red, ripe strawberries, and fade to straw yellow in late summer.
Characteristic of this series, its green-leafed stems grow in compact mounds that reach 18 inches to two feet in height at maturity.
This cultivar tolerates heat and humidity exceptionally well. Plant en masse, or in a container on its own for a focal specimen.
Some people may be allergic to it via pollen inhalation or skin contact. In addition, the ASPCA warns that yarrow is toxic to cats, dogs, and horses.
12. Summer Berries
A. millefolium Summer Berries is a mix of Galaxy hybrids that offers multi-colored medium-sized blossoms in an array of light hues, including pastel shades of mauve, orange-red, pink, purple, rose, and salmon.
These top green-leafed stems with a mature height of 18 inches to two feet tall.
This is a compact, mounding variety that does well as a filler in mixed patio containers. Known for its excellent tolerance of warmth and humidity, its colors may fade during heatwaves.
Once I planted rugged Achillea varieties, I was able to create a focal point that said, “Welcome! A gardener really does live here!”
So, whether you’re already a fan, or have just discovered it today, you’re bound to enjoy good value and a pleasant view when you introduce one or more of our 13 varieties to your outdoor living space.
Dahlias are beloved by gardeners and florists for their large array of glorious colors and delightful flowers that range from miniature pompoms to giant dinnerplates!
Flowering from midsummer until the arrival of frost, they add fresh beauty to beds, borders, containers, and window boxes through the dog days of summer – just when other plants start to wear out from summer’s heat.
But with over 57,000 registered cultivars worldwide, choosing a selection for your garden can be a challenge.
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The American Dahlia Society (ADS) categorizes dahlias into three groups on the basis of color, form (or flower type), and size.
In our guide to growing dahlias, we cover how to cultivate these beauties. In this guide, we’ll take a look at the different classifications to help you choose the type that’s right for your garden.
Here’s what I’ll cover:
Dahlia Groups and Classification
Color
The ADS Color group lists 15 distinct shades or color combinations.
Bicolor
Bronze
Dark blend
Dark pink
Dark red
Flame
Lavender
Light blend
Orange
Pink
Purple and Black
Red
Variegated
White
Yellow
With every color available except true blue, you’re sure to find just the right shade for your garden palette.
Form
There are multiple flower types in the Form group, with different petal structures and bloom shapes.
1. Anemone
Anemone (AE) types are distinguished by at least one row of evenly spaced, flat ray petals surrounding a vivid, and often contrasting, pincushion center made of long, tubular florets.
They may also be bicolored, as in the case of ‘Polka Dot’ which features cream colored petals edged in dark pink surrounding a bright yellow center.
Blooms are four to six inches wide, and plants grow to a mature height of three to four feet.
Ball (BA) types are fully double flowers with a slightly flattened globe shape featuring furled, involute (incurved) petals in a gorgeous, spiral arrangement.
Petal tips can be blunt, flat, or indented.
Miniature Ball (MB) types have identical flower forms but in smaller sizes.
‘Cornel’ features deep red, cherry-colored, three- to four-inch blooms atop four-foot sturdy stems.
The globe-shaped flowers make a dramatic impact in the garden and in cut flower arrangements.
Cactus (C) types have long, pointed ray florets with petal edges that are involute (IC), revolute (edges rolled back), or straight (SC), radiating out from an open center in a somewhat spiky look.
‘Black Narcissus’ is a dramatic, moody semi-cactus cultivar with deep red petals that look almost black from a distance.
Adding texture, color, and interest to beds and borders, plants top out at two to three feet tall with large, six- to eight-inch blooms.
Collarette (CO) flowers have a flat, open face with a single outer row of regularly spaced ray florets, an inner collar of shorter petals (petaloids), and a fringed or tight center disk.
The inner collar and center disk are often contrasting.
‘Kelsey Anne Joy’ is a superb example of a Collarette dahlia, featuring apricot outer petals, with yellowish-reddish-gold inner petals surrounding a yellow center.
Two- to four-inch flowers bloom on stems that grow up to three feet tall.
Decorative cultivars are double petaled and open centered, with flat florets that may have a roll at the edges or tips.
Formal Decoratives (FD) have evenly spaced petals and a symmetrical flowerhead while informal Decoratives (ID) have twisted or wavy petals in a more irregular arrangement.
With five-inch flowers in blushed with soft pink, ‘Sweet Nathalie’ is an Formal Decorative type.
Laciniated (LC) types have uniformly arranged florets radiating from a disk or open center with involute or revolute edges.
A lengthwise split at the tips of the petals gives a fringed or “pinked” appearance like that of a carnation.
7. Mignon Single
Mignon Single (MS) is an open faced flower with a single row of uniform, slightly overlapping ray florets, in a flat plane surrounding a center disk that can be tightly furled or unfurled into a pincushion.
The delicate four-inch flowers are stunning when mass planted in beds and borders, and are available in a variety of colors. Compact plants top out at one- to two-feet tall.
You can find seeds for D. variabilis in a mixed packet of pinks, reds, yellows, and whites available at Eden Brothers.
8. Novelty, Open and Fully Double
Novelty flowers have characteristics that fall outside of the other classifications.
Novelty Open (NO) varieties have a disc center. Fully Double (NX) types have an open center surrounded by double petals.
9. Orchid
Orchid (O) types feature open flowers with a single row of uniform ray florets surrounding a tight disk center.
The florets are involute for at least two thirds of their length, giving a narrow, rolled effect.
Four-inch-wide flowers are light and stand erect atop three-foot stems.
10. Orchette
Orchette (OT) types are intricate blooms that combine the involute petal characteristics of the Orchid dahlia with an inner fringe of short petals (petaloids) surrounding a center disk typical of the Collarette form.
The petaloids may be flat or slightly curved towards the center of the bloom.
11. Peony
Peony (PE) types feature an open flower with two or more rows of flat or slightly cupped ray florets surrounding a center disk of open anthers on short filaments.
‘Bishop of Canterbury’ is a compact Peony type featuring deep magenta-pink petals that surround a dark golden center.
Flowers are five to six inches across on three-feet-tall sturdy stems.
Pompom (aka pompon) types (P) feature an open-centered, fully double flower in a rounded globe shape with rolled, involute florets that are blunt or round tipped.
Flowers are beautifully symmetrical with an appealing geometry.
‘Burlesca’ is a coral-pink cultivar with dainty four-inch flowers that look perfectly symmetrical.
Flower stalks can be up to three feet tall and may require staking.
Single (S), is an open faced flower with a single row of regular, overlapping ray florets in a flat plane surrounding a center disk.
The petals are flat or slightly cupped with blunt or pointed tips, and the center disk opens to reveal frilly anthers.
14. Stellar
Stellar (ST) types are fully double flowers with long and pointed cupped florets that recurve back towards the stem, giving the appearance of a shooting star.
Like the Ball types, there is no center disc.
15. Waterlily
Waterlily (WL) has fully double, symmetrical blooms with slightly cupped florets that open from a domed center to a saucer-shaped face.
Petals are broader and sparser than the Stellar types.
Size
The third group is Size, classified according to letter values.
In the fall, stores are full of potted chrysanthemums and many indoor gardeners enjoy the display before tossing the plants when the flowers fade and the first frost arrives.
Chrysanthemums are perennials, so it’s not necessary to cut their life short when the weather gets cold.
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Mums don’t make good full-time houseplants, but you can certainly enjoy them inside for part of the year. You can bring outdoor potted specimens indoors to overwinter and keep the store-bought plants alive for planting out in spring.
While it is possible to keep them in the home all year long, they might not bloom.
This article discusses how to grow mums indoors. Here’s what I’ll cover:
Can Mums Grow Indoors?
There are numerous species in the Chrysanthemum genus, perennials that are part of the Asteraceae family.
Those typically grown in the home garden are cultivated hybrids, divided into 13 classes or classifications.
The hardy garden types that we plant out in spring, bloom in late summer to fall in a variety of colorful shades. Hardy in Zones 4 to 9, many garden varieties can also survive in Zone 3, with a little winter care.
There are also florist or exhibition chrysanthemums, showy, delicate types used extensively in the cut flower industry, which require careful cultivation and lack the cold hardiness of the garden varieties.
When you buy potted chrysanthemums at the store in the fall, they are almost always in full bloom.
Usually, these have been cultivated in greenhouses and the grower encourages the chrysanthemums to flower by giving them growth hormones or by careful manipulation of artificial light to stimulate blooming.
But here’s the caveat. After they stop flowering, mums often won’t bloom again if kept indoors or if they do, the flowers will be sparse.
The reason is that these are what are known as “short-day” plants, which means they need relatively short periods of light – under 12 hours – to trigger flowering. They also need cool temperatures below 60°F for a few weeks to signal to the plants that it’s time to start producing buds.
Unless you keep that thermostat extremely low during the winter, your house probably doesn’t have the right temperatures to encourage your chrysanthemum to produce new buds and blossoms.
You can manipulate the light exposure by putting them in the dark for about 14 hours and in light for nine hours over the course of two months. Then, put them in at least 13 hours of light and 11 hours of dark for another few months.
If you leave them outside all year long, this happens naturally. But when you keep them indoors, there generally isn’t a large enough shift between light and dark and cool and warm to encourage blooming.
On top of this, the potted mums that you find at the store in fall typically aren’t the same types that grow so gorgeously in the soil in the garden. They’re less hardy, for one, and are sensitive to drainage and light.
So yes, you can grow chrysanthemums indoors, but they probably won’t bloom unless you put them outside during the summer months. You’ll need to enjoy them for the foliage, which is beautiful on its own. It’s also delicious in tea.
How to Grow Indoors During the Winter
Whether you are bringing home a potted mum in bloom from the store or taking your outdoor chrysanthemums indoors for the winter, place them as close to an exterior window as possible.
South-facing is best, but east- or west-facing works, too. Just don’t rely on a north-facing window to provide sufficient light or your chrysanthemum will become pale and leggy.
Indoor chrysanthemums require a lot less water than those growing outdoors in the garden. This is because there is less wind and sun inside, so evaporation is slower and the plant takes up less water and fewer nutrients during the winter.
Let the top few inches of soil dry out before you add more water. Overwatering is a quick way to invite diseases or even kill your plant.
Once the last predicted frost date in your neck of the woods has come and gone, you can work on moving your plant outside.
If you’re keeping your chrysanthemum in a container rather than planting it out in the garden, spring is the time to repot.
Choose a container one size up from what the plant is currently growing in, and ensure that the new pot has drainage holes. The material the pot is made from doesn’t matter. If you’re reusing an older container, be sure to wipe it out with soapy water first.
Then, and this is important, harden off the mum for a good week or two.
Your plant is used to living in the protected environment of your home. There’s no harsh wind or other kinds of environmental conditions that outdoor chrysanthemums face.
So you need to reacclimate it. Think of hardening off a bit like taking your plant to base camp for a bit before you let it scale Mount Everest.
To do this, take the plant outside and place it in a protected area in direct sun for half an hour to an hour on the first day. Then, take it back inside. The next day, add a half hour to an hour. Keep adding a half hour to an hour until the mum can stay outside for eight hours.
At that point you can leave it out there in its container or transplant it into the ground.
How to Grow Indoors Year Round
If you want to keep the chrysanthemums indoors year-round, you can do so, but just remember that the plants might not flower or, if they do, the display won’t be anything like you’d see outside.
Chrysanthemum leaves are edible, but they aren’t as tasty as the type that is grown specifically for food.
Known as shungiku in Japan, C. coronaria produces more tender, less pungent leaves than the hybrids we grow in the garden. C. indicum is typically grown for its flowers, which are dried and used in tea.
You can technically eat the leaves and flowers of the hybrid types, but it’s best to sample just a small amount first to see if you have any sensitivities or allergies and avoid it altogether if you’re allergic to species in the Asteraceae family.
If you decide to keep your plants indoors, proper watering is the key to success. Mums don’t like to have their roots dry out, but conversely it’s easy to overwater indoor specimens. Let the surface of the soil dry out between watering.
Better yet, stick your finger into the soil down to the second knuckle. Does it feel like a well-wrung-out sponge? Excellent. If it feels soggier than that, stop watering until it dries out.
If the soil feels dry to the first knuckle, add water. If you notice that the soil feels wet down at the tip of your finger, you might have drainage issues. If this is the case, pull the plant out of the pot, make sure the drainage hole is unblocked, and replace some of the soil in case it has become compacted.
Feed once a month throughout the spring, summer, and fall. During the winter, stop fertilizing and reduce water as described above.
Mum’s the Word
I can’t imagine a year in my garden without some kind of chrysanthemum, whether I’m growing it indoors or out.
When you find one that you love, you want to keep it alive and thriving.
Are you going to keep yours indoors all year or are you thinking you’ll move it inside just for the winter? Let us know what your plan is in the comments section below.
For the antsy gardener waiting for the last spring frost, growing leaf lettuce eases the tension. Its fresh, vibrant leaves are quick to rise, a welcome sight in the early weeks of spring.
“Leaf lettuce” refers to varieties that don’t produce any type of head.
They are easier to grow than other types of lettuce, and produce multiple harvests throughout the season.
And of course, is there anything more satisfying than assembling a freshly harvested salad?
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Our guide has all the know-how you need for growing leaf lettuce. Sowing seeds, plant health care, even some fun facts… it’s a one-stop shop.
Here’s what we’ll be discussing:
“Lettuce” continue!
What Is Leaf Lettuce?
Leaf lettuce belongs to one of several botanical groups of Lactuca sativa, each with different structural characteristics.
As you can imagine, leaf lettuce distinguishes itself with its relatively loose and spreading leaves, which fail to form a distinct, cabbage-esque “head” like other kinds do.
Collectively, varieties of leaf lettuce are hardy in USDA Zones 2 to 11, and reach mature heights and spreads of six to 12 inches.
With a rapid growth rate, the plant reaches maturity somewhere in the ballpark of 30 to 90 days.
Crispy, tasty, and packed with nutrients such as vitamins A and K, leaf lettuce has been enjoyed by humans for millennia. It’s a key ingredient in healthy meals such as salads, wraps, and sandwiches.
Plus, whenever I add leaf lettuce to a burger I’m about to hork down, it helps me feel like I’m not completely clogging my arteries.
Sowing Leaf Lettuce Seed
The key to delicious, tender leaves is to maintain a fresh supply of young plants. To do this, you’ll have to sow seeds in succession.
As cool-season plants, lettuce is best grown in spring or fall. If you want to get a head start, you can evenstart the first batch of seeds indoorssix weeks before your area’s final frost date in spring.
If you go with indoor seed starting, fill a seed tray to an inch below the rim with a 50:50 mix of coconut coir and perlite, which will be both moisture-retentive and well-draining.
Sprinkle your seeds out over the surface of the media, and moisten it all with a misting bottle.
Cover the tray with clear plastic wrap, then place it somewhere indoors where it’s exposed to bright, indirect light.
The seeds also need temperatures of 60 to 80°F to germinate, so you may need to use a bottom heat mat if your house isn’t warm enough.
After the seeds germinate in seven to 10 days and seedlings start to grow, remove the plastic wrap. Thin out the weakest seedlings when they are a couple inches tall and start to crowd each other out.
After six weeks pass, you’re free to transplant them into the garden after hardening them off first.
To harden off seedlings, leave them outside for 30 to 60 minutes before bringing them back inside. Add another hour or so of exposure each day, until they can handle a full day of being outside.
Transplant them four to eight inches apart in a fully sunny to partially shaded patch of rich, well-draining, and loamy soil with a pH of 5.8 to 6.5.
At this point, you can direct sow another batch of seeds in the garden in a sunny location with similar soil, cover them with an 1/8 to 1/4 inch of soil, and keep the soil moist.
Once seedlings are a couple inches tall, thin them to about four to eight inches apart, depending on the variety.
A couple of weeks later, direct sow another batch. The idea is to sow multiple rows or groups every two weeks throughout the growing season, thus ensuring a continual supply of young plants for optimal harvests.
How to Grow Leaf Lettuce
Here’s the 411 on what leaf lettuce needs to thrive:
Climate and Exposure Needs
If you’re located in USDA Hardiness Zones 2 to 11, then there’s a variety of leaf lettuce for you. Hallelujah!
Full sun to partial shade is best, although these plants are fairly tolerant of full shade as well.
All lettuces are considered cool season crops and perform best in temperatures ranging from 50 to 70°F. Once temperatures reach 80°F and nights become warm, plants are known to bolt and start flowering.
However, there are several long-lasting varieties that can be productive throughout the entire growing season in many places. Similarly, there are some varieties that tolerate frosts better than others.
If your goal is to grow leaf lettuce throughout the summer, choose heat-tolerant varieties. Also, interplant with tall summer crops like peppers, corn, and tomatoes to provide extra shade.
Row covers can also provide shade and delay bolting in the heat of the summer. Not to mention that plants can be grown under cover for the entire growing season as a way to prevent pests from getting to them.
Soil Needs
Taking time to prepare the garden bed has a big impact on your harvest, so it’s best to prepare your beds as soon as possible.
Ideally, soil should be loamy, well-draining, and rich in organic matter, with an optimal soilpH of 5.8 to 6.5.
Annual amendments of compost or well-rotted manure prior to planting can help foster that richness – it’s as simple as covering your soil with a layer of organic material that’s an inch or two thick, then tilling it into the soil.
Water and Fertilizer Needs
Lettuce is susceptible to water-related stress, so it pays to get this right.
Watering adequately is especially important for an edible crop. Shallow roots leave plants susceptible to water-related stress, so water frequently – whenever the soil feels dry an inch down – and to a depth of at least six inches.
Be careful not to water too heavily, since soggy soils encourage disease.
If possible, water in the morning so plants have a chance to dry off over the course of the day. Keep in mind that you’ll most likely need to water container plantings more frequently.
If a soil test indicates that the organic matter amendments weren’t enough, you can supplement with an organic fish emulsion fertilizer every two weeks, diluted down to half the recommended dosage. That should help satisfy the high nitrogen requirements of these leafy greens!
Growing Tips
Full sun to partial shade is best.
Annual soil amendments of organic matter help keep the soil rich.
Water your crops whenever the soil feels dry an inch down.
Maintenance
Lettuce is less vigorous in the presence of weeds. A layer of organic mulch will help suppress weed growth, along with maintaining soil moisture.
Prepare the soil a couple of weeks before planting garden crops.
Once weeds begin to appear, lightly cultivate the soil so as to uproot the weeds, but not so heavily that new weed seeds are brought to the surface and given a chance to germinate.
Any flowers that form on your plants should be pinched ASAP.
Leaf Lettuce Varieties to Select
Available in a multitude of varieties and colors, leaf lettuces liven up your garden and your dinner table.
Choosing the right variety for your area and season is key to getting the most out of your plants.
Here are a few of our favorite, mildly sweet leaf types to choose from:
Black Seeded Simpson
‘Black Seeded Simpson’ is simple to grow, with a mild sweetness.
As it’ll be ready for harvest in 40 to 49 days, you’ll be enjoying this quick-to-mature variety in no time.
Ready to harvest in 50 to 70 days, this mildly sweet cultivar is perfect for warmer climates, as it’s slow to bolt. Seeds areavailable from True Leaf Market.
Merlot
Not a fan of green in your leaf lettuce? Say hello to ‘Merlot.’
With deep burgundy leaves, ‘Merlot’ only flaunts a touch of green towards its base – not to mention that it tastes delicious, as well!
Organic controls like insecticidal soap and horticultural oil help to snuff out aphids and other creepy-crawly pests, while planting insect-repelling onions or chives works well to deter bugs.
Just make sure you check that any insecticidal product you wish to apply is safe for edible greens and take note of how close to harvest you can apply them.
Cutworms are sneaky and do their damage at night. If you notice seedlings being mowed down at the base or chewed holes in foliage, then these critters may be the culprit.
Rabbits, squirrels, and deer also love to munch on young leaves. Fences or row covers are your best line of defense against these more obvious offenders.
If you notice leaves starting to look scorched at the tips, plants may be affected by tip burn. This physiological condition is typically a result of inconsistent moisture levels, especially during dry spells. It could also be an indication of improper soil pH.
Remember to water consistently, and keep an eye on the weather if you want your crops to thrive.
If you overwater, you may run into soggy-soil problems like damping off and downy mildew, which are best prevented with that Goldilocks amount of irrigation: not too much, not too little, but just right.
Otherwise, you may have to pull afflicted plants if they’re too far gone.
Harvesting delicious leaf lettuce is pretty simple – think of it as giving your plants a haircut, except you get to eat the hair afterwards!
Okay, maybe not my tastiest analogy.
Anyways, leaf lettuce can be harvested any time it reaches a height of six to 12 inches.
To harvest, simply cut the leaves two inches above the soil with a clean, sterile knife or pair of scissors. Repeat until the growing season is over!
Alternatively, you can harvest entire plants if you have no interest in subsequent harvests.
Since older plants are more likely to bolt – and develop tough, bitter leaves as a result – don’t hesitate to harvest entire plants before they reach that “peak” harvest time!
It’s best to harvest smaller, yet tasty leaves rather than big ol’ chunks of hard-to-chew bitterness. Unless that’s your thing, in which case you’d love growing endive.
If you’re ready to eat your lettuce as soon as you harvest it, prep is as easy as rinsing your cut leaves under running water and drying them by hand or in a salad spinner.
Otherwise, you can bag up the leaves in a plastic baggie or lidded container and store it in the fridge for a week or so. If the leaves start to look wet and gross, it’s probably time to say sayonara.
I wouldn’t freeze these veggies, freezing damages plant cells, leaving the lettuce wilted and slimy when it thaws. Not the best ingredient for salads.
Speaking of salads…
Recipes and Cooking Ideas
Leaf lettuce can be combined with pretty much any ingredient that could use some mildly sweet, fibrous crispness. So… a ton of different foods. Salads, wraps, sandwiches, burgers… the list is long.
Here are a couple of recipes that deliciously utilize leaf lettuce:
Leafy Sprouts Salad
Whether you go with alfalfa or broccoli sprouts, this salad is dressed with a delicious sorghum chili vinaigrette, making it tasty and packed with nutrients. Yum!
With a combo of strawberry, blueberry, and raspberry, this triple berry salad rocks delicious sauteed shallots and walnuts, all glazed with a delightful cayenne-honey vinaigrette. Sweet, savory, and classy.
Be sure to get a few things right and you’ll be enjoying fresh garden salads in no time.
Well-prepared, weed-free soil that is well draining and rich in organic material will ensure healthy plants. Consistently moist soil makes for fast growing, happy lettuce.
And successive plantings keep a supply of young, tender leaves at your fingertips throughout the season.
Are you excited to grow leaf lettuce this year? Let us know how long you were able to keep this leafy green from bolting or turning bitter and how you did it in the comments below!
A true titan among wildflowers, the often imposing, hardy, and reliable ironweeds are typically tall, easy to grow, and an absolute favorite among pollinators.
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Capable of flourishing in some truly tough spots, these flowers take care of themselves and put on a wonderful display when the garden’s riot of summer color is waning.
Read on to find out more about growing this late summer show-stopper.
Here’s what I’ll cover:
What Is Ironweed?
A member of one of the largest flowering plant families on earth, Asteraceae, ironweed belongs to the genus Vernonia, named for the English botanist William Vernon.
Although the exact number of species is debatable, the genus is widely distributed around the globe and appreciated in horticulture for the fortitude that gave the plants their common name.
This large group of perennials occupies a variety of habitats including open woodlands, to montane cloud forests, to roadside ditches, wet riparian areas, and old fields.
There is a lot of diversity within the genus, but all species produce bright purple to pink flowers composed of what are known as disk flowers.
Disk flowers are small, tubular, fertile flowers tightly packed together to form what’s known as an inflorescence. In ironweed, this aggregation of disk flowers look like beautiful, purple pom-poms that emerge in summer to early fall.
Ironweed leaves are typically toothed and are arranged alternately on the stem. Many species have a potent mixture of unpalatable chemicals that render them resistant to nibbling from deer, rabbits, and other herbivores!
The approximately 22 Vernonia species native to North America generally appreciate sunny conditions in reasonably moist, loamy soils. These species are all herbaceous.
Further afield, in tropical Africa, some members of this genus are shrubs, such as the important medicinal plant V. amygdalina, and capable of tolerating extremely arid conditions. The diversity in this large group of plants is vast.
In horticulture, the most popular ironweed varieties are derived from North American species, such as V. arkansana, V. gigantea, V. lettermannii, and V. noveboracensis.
Although these plants are remarkably easy to grow, their enormous size can sometimes be a little off-putting to gardeners, especially those short on space.
The species V. gigantea, for example, can grow to more than eight feet high. Fortunately, plant breeders have created more compact options for gardeners not ready to branch out, including the diminutive ‘Iron Butterfly,’ a V. lettermannii cultivar, which reaches two to three feet tall.
All ironweed cultivars on the market sport the same vibrant flowers. More on that later.
Adding this plant’s striking purple flowers to your garden’s palette isn’t the only gift ironweed has to offer.
This tenacious perennial is the perfect plant for North American wildlife gardens, too.
Ironweed flowers are excellent nectar sources for pollinators, providing food just as many types of butterflies are beginning to migrate in the fall. The seed heads are good food for birds that choose to stick around through winter, too.
Cultivation and History
Humans and ironweed have long enjoyed a close relationship. Before we were planting gardens for aesthetic reasons, the species in this genus were popular for remedying a whole host of physical ailments.
The cocktail of alkaloids and flavonoids that make ironweed’s bitter leaves so off putting to bunnies and deer also endow the plant with its purported anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory qualities.
An infusion of ironweed roots was used by the Cherokee to treat a number of different ailments including toothache, stomach ache, and hemorrhage.
The kiowa used V. missurica as a cure for dandruff, and were known to chew the perennial’s purple flowers, simply for their sweet taste.
Applications for this large and diverse genus abound. Today, some species, including V. cinerea, are being investigated for their use as oil crops, and others, such as V. galamensis, as anti-inflammatories for relieving arthritis.
Ironweed Propagation
To grow ironweed in your own garden you’ll need plenty of space.
Most North American species in the Vernonia genus form tall, dense clumps that can shade out neighboring plants. Make sure you leave one to four feet between plants, depending on the species you choose to grow.
Beyond that, the ironweeds are a pretty unfussy bunch and can thrive in lean to rich soils, wet to dry conditions, and even tolerate a little afternoon shade.
Generally speaking, you can grow ironweed from seed, via cuttings, by division, or from purchased nursery starts. Read on to find out the ins and outs of each method.
From Seed
The most cost-effective way to get this leggy native established in your garden is to purchase – or better yet, collect from the wild – a handful of ironweed seeds.
If you want to collect seed from wild plants, identify a population in late summer, when the bright purple flowers are easiest to see.
Collect the seed once the flowers have fluffed out and produced a white “pappus” – the fluffy parachute-like appendage that helps a seed fly. Usually this happens around October.
Store the seeds in a paper envelope out of direct sunlight until you’re ready to sow. The sooner you sow your seeds, the better their chance at germinating.
You’ll have the most success germinating seed if you emulate mother nature’s process: in fall, sow seeds on the surface of the soil in a prepared spot in the garden with adequate space to grow these typically large plants.
Push the seed firmly into lightly raked soil and barely cover. A handful of dirt sprinkled over the top will suffice, as these seeds need a little light to germinate. The cold winter weather will stratify the seed and prepare it for germination come spring.
Make sure the seeding area stays free from weeds, and, once spring arrives, water liberally in the absence of rain, making sure not to disturb the soil and any new seedlings that might already be emerging.
Once your baby ironweeds reach a few inches in height, you can carefully transplant them to other areas of the garden if you want to move them somewhere else. Make sure to disturb their roots as little as possible when digging them up.
Ironweed seed can be started indoors, too, but the germination rates can be very patchy, and I don’t recommend this method. Before sowing, the seed must be cold stratified for 30 to 60 days in the fridge in a zip-lock bag with moist perlite.
If you don’t want to direct-sow, I’d recommend sowing your seed in plastic flats, and placing them in a sheltered spot outside so the winter weather can do the job of stratification for you.
A back porch or up against the wall of your house is a perfect spot to keep them. Keep the soil moist, but not soaking wet.
Seedlings will emerge in spring and should be kept moist with regular watering. When your young seedlings are a few inches tall, transplant the most robust ones into a prepared location in the garden.
From Cuttings
Like many herbaceous plants, ironweed can be propagated via cuttings taken from the new growing tips of the plant’s stems.
Fill several four-inch pots with moist perlite. Prepare enough pots to accommodate one cutting per pot.
Take a cutting of pliable, soft growth in late spring, making sure each piece is about six inches long.
Remove the leaves from the bottom half of the cutting and dip each cut end in rooting hormone. Bury the bottom two inches of the cutting in your prepared pots and water in well.
Tent the cuttings with a plastic bag and place them in a location indoors that receives plenty of indirect sun, but where they won’t roast. The greenhouse effect of the plastic bag over the cuttings can amplify sunlight, actually burning your tender cutting’s leaves.
The plastic tent should work to keep internal conditions stable but check the surface of the soil every day to make sure it’s moist. If it isn’t, water, and securely seal the bag around your pot.
After about six weeks, your ironweed cuttings should begin to root. Give each plant a couple of extra weeks to establish a strong root system and then transplant out in the garden, as discussed below.
Via Division
If you’re lucky enough to have a friend or neighbor that grows ironweed, see if you can scoop up a division from them in the fall or spring. Divisions are essentially a slice of a mature plant’s root system.
The best times to divide are in spring when little leaves have just begun to emerge, or in the fall, once the plant has finished producing seed and has died back considerably.
Using a sharp, flat edged spade, cut the root mass completely in half, down the center. Gently work around the outside of the portion of the plant you want to remove, prying it up from the ground. Backfill the hole and water the remaining in-ground plant well to prevent stress.
Transplant to your desired location as discussed below.
Transplanting
The easiest way to establish ironweed is by purchasing a potted plant from a nursery.
Site your new addition in an area of the garden with an appropriate amount of space for the expected mature dimensions of the species you have chosen. If it’s one of the larger types, it may need as much as three to four feet of space around it.
Choose a location with full sun and rich soil that isn’t too dry.
Dig a hole the same depth and slightly wider than the width of the current container the plant is growing in. Or, in the case of a division, as deep as the root system.
Gently remove the plant from its container, set it in the hole, and backfill with soil so it sits at the same depth as it was in the original container. Water in well.
How to Grow Ironweed
Ironweed is a low maintenance choice and is hardy in Zones 4 to 9. However, just like any other plant, while it’s young it will require a little extra love and care.
Remove weeds around the plant so they don’t compete for water and nutrients and make sure the soil remains consistently moist while transplants are becoming established.
Site plants in soil with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0, and, if possible, in full sun.
These wildflowers can thrive in almost any type of soil but prefer moderately rich loams.
For ironweeds growing in nutrient-poor soils, top dress your plants in the spring and fall with three or more inches of compost and water well so nutrients trickle down to the roots.
Although species in the Vernonia genus can tolerate drought conditions for short periods, if grown in consistently dry conditions, they will need regular watering in the absence of rain. Generally, a once-a-week deep watering should be sufficient.
Roadside ditches, and low wet spots in open meadows are favorite spots for this native flower in the wild.
True to its common name, ironweed can withstand hardpan, dried out soil or sopping wet feet. For this reason, it’s an ideal plant for a rain garden that experiences variable and intermittent moisture.
Maybe you have somewhere like that at home? A long-forgotten soggy spot that dries out in summer? The edge of an ephemeral marsh?
Or maybe you just want to enjoy ironweed at the back of your flower border and water well during dry spells. This native is incredibly tough and will find a way to flourish almost anywhere. Just remember to give it plenty of space to spread out!
Growing Tips
Plant in average to rich, moist to dry soils.
Provide plenty of space, at least three feet for taller species, so mature plants can spread.
Site in a location with full sun.
Water well during prolonged dry periods.
Top dress with compost in spring if growing in poor soil.
Pruning and Maintenance
Ironweed is such a tough cookie, it can be left virtually to its own devices.
Truly, what’s more lovable than that? Some gardeners may choose to cut down browned stems and dead flower heads, but those old hollow stems actually provide important overwintering homes for bees and other insects if left standing.
You can remove old stems in late spring once the weather warms, or better yet, just let them degrade naturally in the garden, providing even more beneficial habitat and organic material for the soil.
Ironweed will self-seed, so if you don’t have room for more than one of these larger than life wildflowers, prune off spent flower heads in fall, or just remove any seedlings that pop up in spring.
Spring and fall are the perfect times to divide mature plants, too.
Ironweed Species and Cultivars to Select
As mentioned before, the species widely available to home gardeners are North American in origin, though they vary in size and have some slight differences in habitat preferences.
Luckily for us, however, they’re all equally tough and produce the same deep purple blooms come summer’s end.
One further word to the wise: be careful when selecting cultivars to stay away from those described as pollenless. These traits can escape into wild populations and affect the pollinators that depend on these wild plants for food.
Arkansana
V. arkansana (syn. V. crinita), or great ironweed, is typically found growing along rivers, and in wet sloughs but it can also tolerate dry soils.
Growing up to five feet tall and four feet wide, this species offers a compact option for the garden. V. arkansana is hardy in USDA Zones 5 to 8.
Fasciculata
V. fasciculata, aka common or prairie ironweed, is hardy in Zones 4 to 9, and reaches a mature height and spread of two to six feet.
It features violet-purple flowers borne atop sturdy stems.
You can find seeds available in packets of 500 from Everwilde Farms via Walmart.
Gigantea
V. gigantea (syn. V. altissima), also known as giant ironweed, has flowers in varied hues of lavender, magenta, and deep purple.
The truly unique aspect of this species, however, is its gargantuan size. When grown under optimal conditions, V. gigantea can reach 10 feet tall.
This species is hardy in Zones 5 to 9 and is moderately resistant to powdery mildew.
‘Jonesboro Giant’ is one of the largest cultivars on the market, reaching a mature height of almost 12 feet tall, with rigid, upright stems.
Lettermannii
The diminutive V. lettermannii, or narrowleaf ironweed, tops out at around two to three feet tall. Its needle-shaped, fine leaves add a beautiful, soft texture to the garden in Zones 4 to 9.
‘Iron Butterfly’ is a cultivar that looks very similar to the species plant, but is a little more compact, reaching just two feet tall.
Another species popular in horticulture, V. noveboracensis, or New York ironweed, prefers slightly acidic, rich moist soils and is a little more compact than giant ironweed, topping out at around eight feet tall.
This species is hardy in Zones 5 to 9.
Summer’s Surrender
‘Summer’s Surrender’ is a hybrid of V. lettermannii and V. arkansana. This cultivar is dense and broad reaching about six feet across once mature.
Growing to heights of approximately four feet, this showy cultivar is densely covered in blossoms beginning in September.
‘Summer’s Surrender’ is hardy in USDA Zones 4 to 9.
Summer’s Swan Song
‘Summer’s Swan Song’ is a hybrid cross of V. lettermannii and V. angustifolia, and is another compact choice for the gardener with little space. This cultivar grows to about three feet high with a similar width.
Highly resistant to disease, ‘Summer’s Swan Song’ produces deep purple flowers from early September to early October.
This cultivar thrives in USDA Zones 4 to 9.
Managing Pests and Disease
Like many other native species, Vernonia is plagued by very few diseases, and even fewer pests.
This is truly a plant for the armchair gardener.
Herbivores
Ironweed’s leaves are endowed with a suite of bitter compounds which make them unpalatable to all but the most desperate of herbivores.
If you notice any nibbling, it will undoubtedly be due to the host of insects that depend on these species for food.
Insects
While plenty of insects rely on ironweed, from the wide-ranging painted lady butterfly to the parthenice tiger moth, few bugs, if any, do damage that need concern a gardener.
Disease
Thankfully, ironweed is as tough as the name suggests. There are really only a couple diseases that afflict these resilient plants.
Powdery Mildew
This easily-recognizable disease typically appears during dry spells, when plants are stressed.
Caused by a number of different species of fungi, this affliction is especially common in densely-planted areas with poor air circulation or low light, it appears initially as white spots on young leaves.
If you’re lucky enough to catch the fungal infection just as it’s starting to take hold, pull off any affected leaves and destroy them by burning or tossing in the garbage – don’t place them on the compost pile as composting won’t destroy the fungal spores.
If your plants are in the shade, or somewhere where the soil is too dry, consider moving them to better conditions.
Remember, optimal conditions for ironweed are full sun and moderately moist soils. Watering more diligently can also help avoid the drought stress that may allow powdery mildew to get a foothold, too.
Also, be sure to always water at the soil level, not on the leaves. Wet foliage can cause powdery mildew to spread.
In healthy plants, powdery mildew shouldn’t affect flower or seed production too much.
If you’re concerned, spraying neem oil or another fungicide can be effective and help to prevent another outbreak, but it’s not really necessary.
Although rust is not a common problem in ironweed, the bumpy, orange-colored blemishes this disease creates can be a nuisance.
The condition itself can be caused by a huge number of different fungi, but fortunately, rust is usually self-limiting and resolves with pruning of affected foliage and a good clean up of any potentially diseased leaf litter.
Plants typically become susceptible to rust if they’re growing in overcrowded, warm, humid conditions. Providing adequate spacing between plants and watering at ground level, rather than overhead, can do a lot to keep your plants rust-free.
If you want to apply a fungicide and are comfortable doing so, you can use neem oil.
However, neem oil is toxic to bees, and I’d only recommend using it if the disease is severe.
If you go the fungicide route, make sure to wear gloves and follow all directions carefully.
Best Uses for Ironweed
Without a doubt, ironweed is best used in the native plant or wildlife garden, where it can attract flocks of granivorous birds, drifts of colorful butterflies, and swirls of every other kind of hungry pollinator.
Many species of caterpillar feed on the foliage of this important genus and its tall, woody stems provide important habitat for little critters through the winter months.
Try growing it in a spot that’s proven challenging for other species, where moisture levels fluctuate. Make a rain garden in an intermittently flooded spot and let it take over.
Some species, such as New York ironweed, have particularly showy purple flowers and these look wonderful and last quite a long time in cut flower bouquets, too.
Quick Reference Growing Guide
Plant Type:
Herbaceous flowering perennial
Flower/Foliage Color:
Purple to dark pink/deep green
Native to:
Africa, North America, South America, Southeast Asia
Superstar of the eco-friendly yard, this pollinator magnet will be the belle of the late summer ball.
Tall, striking, and forever forgiving of a variety of tough conditions, give one of the ironweeds a try in your garden. I’m certain you won’t regret it.
Do you grow ironweed in your backyard? Which species? Tell us how it’s doing, where it’s growing, and what wonderful wildlife it attracts. Comments are always welcome!
