Front Garden: Native peren­nial Ironweed in full bloom, paired with white Gooseneck Loosestrife

When I drove past this house and rub­ber­necked a strik­ing plant grow­ing in the front garden—tall and robust with spec­tac­u­lar pur­ple blooms—I had to pull over to take a closer look.  It’s too early for asters to be in flower, and I had no idea what it could be.

Like many Toronto homes, the own­ers have taken out the grass in the front and have planted the whole yard with peren­ni­als, and one large clump was this stun­ning pur­ple spec­i­men. The plant is over 5 feet and has clus­ters of aster-like flow­ers arranged on a frame­work of flo­rets, look­ing a bit like a flo­ral explo­sion. Turns out it is Ironweed, Vernonia Altissima, a North American native wild­flower that is find­ing its way into many native peren­nial gar­dens. It is almost impos­si­ble to cap­ture the vivid pur­ple in of this plant in a photo. A bonus is that it attracts nectar-seeking but­ter­flies. For late sum­mer drama, this one can’t be beat.