Nonstop blooms and extreme drought tolerance make this plant a garden favorite.
This semi-woody perennial forms dense clusters of brightly colored flowers from late spring until fall.
Jupiter’s beard makes a beautiful cut flower because of its long vase life and prolific blossoms.
Credit: Dean Schoeppner
Jupiter’s beard blossomsboast a long bloom period.
Flowers begin appearing in late spring or early summer, and numerous clusters of tiny flowers bloom until frost.
Full sun also encourages the best blossoms and sturdy plants.
Credit: Dean Schoeppner
Grow it inUSDA zones 511in cottage gardens, alongstone walls, or on a slope to help prevent erosion.
Jupiter’s beard self-seeds so prolifically that it is considered invasive in California, Washington, and Oregon.
Do not plant Jupiter’s beard in these states.
Credit: Ed Gohlich
Test the soil before you sow the seeds and adjust it to be somewhat alkaline if it is acidic.
To start them indoors,sow seeds in the fallbefore the last frost.
Press the seeds into flats filled with seed-starting mix and barely cover them.
Credit: Stephen Cridland
Keep them warmabout 65F is ideal and they’ll germinate in two to three weeks.
Provide bright indirect light for the seedlings.
Set them outside after the last frost in spring, spaced 12 to 18 inches apart.
Credit: Cynthia Haynes
Water the plants the first year as they become established.
After that, water only when the soil becomes extremely dry.
If you are planting Jupiter’s beard nursery plants, wait until fall.
Credit: Blaine Moats
Then, dig a hole at the same depth as the container and twice as wide.
Set the plant in the garden soil at the same depth as in the container and backfill the hole.
Don’t add fertilizer; Jupiter’s beard doesn’t like rich soil.
Light
Jupiter’s beardprefers full sun, which ensures it can dry out between waterings.
Soil and Water
This Mediterranean native needswell-drained soilto thrive.
They’re highly tolerant of poor soil, even clay, as long as they can dry out.
Jupiter’s beard prefers alkaline soil.
Water the plants only when there isn’t enough rain or the soil is extremely dry.
Temperature and Humidity
Jupiter’s beard prefers warm weather and relatively low humidity.
It tolerates hot weather but struggles to flourish in areas with high humidity.
Fertilizer
Jupiter’s beard takes poor soils in stride, so it doesn’t need supplemental fertilizer.
Because of the weedy habit, it is best to deadhead the flowers after they finish blooming.
This helps prevent the spread of this plant from the fluffy, almost dandelion-like seed heads.
Late in the summer, plants may begin to look a bit ragged and may benefit froma good pruning.
In this case, cut the entire plant back by one-third to tidy things up.
In late fall, after the plant goes dormant, cut it back to only 3 or 4 inches.
Pests and Problems
Jupiter’s beard is nearly pest-free.
It has no significant problems with garden pests or fungi.
Sometimes, mealy bugs oraphids will show up, but they can be removed with a spray of water.
Continuously wet soil can lead to crown rot.
How to Propagate Jupiter’s Beard
Propagate Jupiter’s beard through basal cuttings or division.
Some plants may have several.
Brush away more soil and locate the primary root leading from the established plant to the offshoot.
Use a sharp knife to cut the root close to the parent plant.
Within a few weeks, roots may show at the pot’s drain hole.
At this point, the plant can be hardened off and moved outside.
It’s best to divide Jupiter’s beard in early spring just as the new foliage emerges.
Use a clean spade to lift the entire plant and root ball.
Cutting straight down, divide the plant into three or four sections, each containing both roots and foliage.
Discard the center of the plant if it is woody.
For each division,dig a holean inch more shallow than the rootball.
Spread the roots and hold the division in place while backfilling the hole to cover the roots.
Press down gently on the soil to eliminate air pockets and water well.
Its silver-felted foliage quickly forms a dense mat.
It also contrasts nicely with other foliage and most flowers.
It enhances almost everything.
It’s nothing short of stunning next to white or blue flowers.
It thrives in hot, dry, sunny conditions like asouth-facing slope.
Some have spread rapidly to the point of being aggressive.
Zones 3-9
Baptisia
Baptisiais a tall plant with beautiful spires, often in a showy blue.
It’s a native prairie plant that bears long, tall spikes of pea-like blooms in late spring.
As the flowers ripen, they become interesting black seedpods that are oftenused in fall arrangements.
It is a drought-tolerant plant that forms a deep taproot.
Choose its location carefully; it is difficult to transplant once established.
However, Jupiter’s beard isn’t attractive to deer or rabbits, so they stay away.
Jupiter’s beard is also known as Red Valerian.
