Leaderboard

It's amazing how many flowers look alike when taken out of context. So hard to tell from a picture. I thought I had Longwood Gardens baffled on one in their collection but the head of one of the sections recognized it from a picture that pstan took. Those folks are to commended for going above and beyond to be helpful. It turned out to be a new type of strawflower. I have a friend who transplants ironweed from the wild all the time. She stuck one up on the embankment bed last summer and it seems to be doing fine. All of mine have come in pots. One was dug from the wild, one I can't remember where it came from and the third came from Penn State Arboretum. That was the mislabeled one. It was supposed to be v. glauca but isn't. They seem to grow just about anywhere but do best in full sun. The one that does best is planted in an easterly direction and gets mostly morning sun and indirect afternoon sun. The one that gets afternoon sun is in a wetter area and it blooms later and is less compact. It doesn't actually flop but it separates. The other is in fill and grows under a vine. It grows and blooms but not all that well. They may be different species but I doubt it. My soil is mostly clay but they don't seem to care. Good luck with it. It is a beautiful plant and the bees and butterflies love it.