Vernonia 'Summer's Swan Song'

Vernonia 'Summer's Swan Song': Fine-Leaved Purple for the Grand Finale

'Summer's Swan Song' saves its best number for the very end. Dark purple florets fire off as the season wraps up, like a diva holding the final note until the lights come up. ONE LAST HIGH NOTE, DARLING.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Vernonia lettermannii × V. angustifolia 'Summer's Swan Song'
• Common Name: Ironweed
• Height: 75–90 cm (2.5–3 ft)
• Spread: 90–110 cm (3–3.5 ft)
• Flowers: Dark purple florets in loose, branching clusters at the stem tips
• Bloom Time: Late summer into fall (September to October)
• Foliage: Fine, narrow, olive-green leaves that take on dark red tints in full sun
• Features: Tolerates both moist and dry soil once established, 2027 Perennial Plant of the Year®

Where to Plant: Its fine, almost feathery texture makes it a good middle-of-the-border plant in a sunny bed, a prairie-style planting or a pollinator garden. Its rounded, bushy shape also works as a low hedge-like accent along a path or fence, and it handles both moist and dry soil.

Companion Plants: Give 'Summer's Swan Song' a sunny, moist bed with marsh marigolds in spring and pink hibiscus in summer. Caltha palustris opens golden marsh marigolds at 30 to 45 cm in April and May. Heuchera FYRE WING™ 'Rhodonite' adds colourful foliage at 20 cm at the front. Hibiscus 'Watermelon Ruffles' brings big magenta-pink blooms at 120 to 140 cm from July to September. Molinia 'Moorhexe' grows to 60 to 90 cm in flower with fine dark green blades.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun in average, well-drained soil. Skip the rich compost and heavy fertilizer, which only make ironweeds floppy. Water regularly through the first season. After that, it handles both wet spells and dry ones. Leave the stems standing over winter for structure and seed heads, then cut everything to the ground in early spring before new growth starts. It's a slow, steady clump former. It rarely needs dividing, but you can split a crowded clump in spring with a sharp spade.

History: 'Summer's Swan Song' was bred by Dr. Jim Ault at the Chicago Botanic Garden, who crossed Vernonia lettermannii, a fine-leaved ironweed, with V. angustifolia 'Plum Peachy' in 2010 and chose this seedling in 2012. It was introduced through Chicagoland Grows®, and the Perennial Plant Association named it the 2027 Perennial Plant of the Year®.

Final Thoughts: Wet soil, dry soil, nibbling deer: none of it rattles this performer. Bees and butterflies stay for the finale. CLOSE THE SEASON IN STYLE.