Ironweed

By Christine Tailer
HCP columnist

The weather has finally cooled, and the sky has been gray for the last few days, rainless, but gray. 

I already feel as though I haven't seen the sun in ages, though I am thankful for its absence. I've not missed my sweat-soaked shirts or glistening skin, not in the least. I haven't missed the hay sticking to my arms after pulling it off our round bales. The past few days my arms have remained wonderfully itch-free and my entire armful of hay has actually made it into the horses’ feeder.

I've also appreciated the way the gray has been gentle on my eyes. There’s been no need to pull down the brim of my hat to shade my vision, but I soon realized that I missed the color that the gray has washed from the valley. The bright summer greens have been quickly fading into dusty yellow. Even the creek water has lost its blue. It has dried up almost completely. The limestone rocks’ silvery grey echoes the color of the sky overhead.

So now I have found myself living in a blissfully cool, but oddly grey world, until just this morning. After chores, the dog and I headed down to the creek. She plopped down in a shallow pool and began to lap up water from between her forepaws. 

I sat on a nearby rock, looking at the fossils under my feet. They too were gray. Gray was everywhere, but when I turned to look behind me, I saw a bright purple plant, standing tall, right there in the middle of the gray creek rocks. A towering ironweed had somehow taken root and was now standing in bold defiance, shouting out with its brilliant flower. Oh, how I love this wildly strong plant.

Ironweed is a native perennial well known for its for late-summer bloom of vibrant purple or magenta flowers. Bees, butterflies, and even hummingbirds, love its rich nectar, which is ever so important as most summer blooms have by now faded away. I love ironweed's rich color, but aside from feeding the valley's needy pollinators, and spreading beautiful color, I wondered what other benefits the plant might have.

I learned that Native Americans used to steep the small flowers and make a richly colored tea that they drank to treat digestive issues. Women would sip the tea to help with female pains, even those of childbirth. Its root was gathered, and dried, and ground into a paste that was spread on wounds to stop bleeding, and was also spread on rashes to promote healing. Then, the plant's long thin leaves were boiled into a tea that was used as a gargle to treat sore throats. Finally, the purple flowers were picked and left to soak in cool water for several days, until the water became infused with their color. That water was then used as a dye.

I looked, and could find no references to ironweed ever being eaten, and I actually learned that deer avoid the plant. I imagined that I might use it as a deer deterrent boarder to my garden, but I quickly realized that it would grow too tall to see over, and become too thick to pass through, and my protected produce would be both hidden from view and difficult to cultivate. I've seen some ironweed that have grown not only bushy and thick, but have reached heights of over 10 feet, though most top out at about five or six feet tall.

After lunch today, our dear family stopped by to visit. My sister-in-law exclaimed at the tall plants growing in a cluster by the wood shop door. They had not yet broken out into their profuse deep purple, and were just starting to flower, but they stood strikingly tall and proud. She asked what they were and wondered if I had planted them there. I introduced her to our ironweed, and told her that they had just appeared there a few years before, and had returned every year since, my tall purple end of summer beauties.

I know that ironweed thrives in full sun, but is a bit conflicted in that it not only loves lots of sunshine, it also requires moist soil. Perhaps that is why the plant proliferates here in the creek valley. The creek may well be dry, but the water table is not far below, and ironweed's deep, fibrous roots have no problem reaching down to find it. 

I have learned that the roots can grow as deep as three feet or more in search of water. It is these rough woody roots that contribute to ironweed's "tough as nails" reputation. Once the plant is established, it is very difficult to eradicate. Thus, the plant is aptly named. It is an iron-like weed indeed.

It's early evening now. The sun is slipping over the hill behind the cabin. A cool breeze flows downhill through the trees. I surprise myself as I contemplate putting on a sweater, but no. I think I'll walk down the gravel drive and check on the ironweed in front of the woodshop and maybe even head on down to the creek. Perhaps the ironweed by the woodshop has fully bloomed and is now lighting up the gray evening with its bright purple flowers.