Vernonia lettermannii 'Iron Butterfly' - NARROW-LEAF IRONWEED 'IRON BUTTERFLY'

One of superb nativars with dense regular and compact mounds, very fine needle-like ornamental leaves and purple flowers in late summer.

Piet Oudolf’s “Must Have” plants - you can see it in masses in Highline in New York and in Lurie Garden in Chicago.

2-3' tall and wide clumps, strongly anchored by tap root. Flowers with smaller flowers in the end of July to mid to end of August.

Full sun is the best, but can grow in half shade too. Adaptable to many soil types - from clay to shallow, rocky, gravelly or sandy soils. Medium-moist to dry (tolerates short term inundation), preferably with some drainage (sand, gravel).

Prefers avarage fertility of the soil, the clumps can open or even flop a bit in too rich soils.

Drought, heat and humidity tolerant. This selection origins in Allan Armitage's trials at the University of Georgia and was chosen for it's vigor and good growth, but the parent plants origin in Arkansas and Oklahoma (rocky flood plains, rock outcrops, gravel bars in the drainage area of the Ouchita River).

Hardy in zones 4 to 9. Deer, rabbit resistant, black walnut tolerant.

Attracts native bees, butterflies and occasionally hummingbirds too.

Low maintenance and virtually pest free perennial. For sunny border, cottage garden, modern landscaping, urban garden - for example dry road islands, gravelly soils, eroded soils, for lower hedges, pollinator garden, xeriscape and drier edges of rain garden. From a distance looks like sheared boxwood shrub and can be used for nice regular hedges.

Can be combined with many perennials, but looks well with more rough structures of Agastache, Echinacea (even with seedheads), Rudbeckia, Silphium and grasses with wider leaves (Panicum virgatum, Sorghastrum nutans, Spodiopogon sibirucus).

Pot size : square 3.5" x 5" deep pot

Picture copyright : US Perennials nursery