Bring butterflies and other flying delights to your late-season garden with Prairie Ironweed, Vernonia fasciculata. An exceptional Missouri and Illinois native perennial, this pollinator powerhouse brings needed food to many species. In late summer its plump buds burst open with florets of bright purple.

Use Missouri Ironweed in wildflower and naturalized areas. Scores of butterflies and other important pollinators swarm it in rain, native, and prairie gardens. Songbirds adore its tasty seeds. It grows 4-6′ tall, and will spread quickly in favorable conditions. It adds a striking presence mixed with perennial sunflowers and tall flowering grasses. Vernonia is named Ironweed for its tough stems, rust-tinged fading flowers, and seeds. You can spot Vernonia in their native habitats–meadows, along creeks and streams, thickets, bright woods, prairies, and glades. Good for areas with moist soils. Plants will grow tallest in wet areas. Deer resistant.

Prairie Ironweed is a host plant to the American Painted Lady butterfly.

Growing instructions: plant in average soil in full sun. Plants prefer moist conditions yet will grow well in most soils. To keep plants shorter, pinch off growing tips in spring.