Late Boneset

I want to talk about a wildflower that is a boon to the late summer/early autumn garden today: Eupatorium serotinum or "Late Boneset". Most people call this a weed, but I think its multitude of small white flowers is beautiful!

Nobody I know plants this, but it grows almost anywhere it can. Here it is adding some late-season color to a somewhat ragged planting.

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This planter box was sort of a dumping ground for a few of the "too many plants" that I had on the driveway in midsummer...

...where only the Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln' is a permanent resident. I think the white blooms tie every thing together, even though their placement may not be perfect.

This plant attracts pollinators like the rest of the Eupatorium genus, such a great food source for the end of summer:

Note that the flowers are quite similar to those of "snakeroot" Ageratina altissima, but that plant has wider leaves and a more narrow habit. I have a large unintentional planting of either or both of these plants that is about to start blooming -- that will be a sight and pollinator destination!



Speaking of pollinator destinations, this mountain mint on the other side of that same planter box has been attracting them all summer long:

It looks like slim pickings with only a few tiny blooms on each cluster, but they must be worth the trip as pollinators are still all over this plant!

The seed heads are so interesting, with the new blooms forming along the outside edges. I suppose only a frost will stop this one! (Looks something like starfish to me!)

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