It looks to me more like one of the tall asters. Foliage doesn't look right and blooms are not pink enough to be JPW.

Thanks 'babs'. I didnt know there were such tall asters. Here is a close-up pic...the flowers are aster like.

The first pic struck me as NY iron weed. Are the flowers flat or rounded? I'm leaning towards iron weed based on the buds.......

Ironweed was my first thought too....

Ironweed it is! Gorgeous!

Looked like the old-fashioned purple Aster that I gave away --- mine did get really enormous! Then again, it could be New York Ironweed. Check out this link as it relates to foliage and plant growth. That might help nail down identification.

Here is a link that might be useful: New York Ironweed: Vernonia noveboracensis

OMG! That is simply wonderful. I've heard of ironweed, but didn't have a clue as to what it looked like. If that's what it is, I need to get me some of that stuff.

Kevin

Rouge, is that standing without support?

Thanks for the proper ID ("Ironweed"). You are all very helpful.

'pm2', this huge stand is totally self-supporting.

Kevin, you have enough room for this plant?! I will just admire it from afar.

Next season I will pay more attention to this plant as it develops through the summer.

I don't have the room for that either, but I always admire something that large that doesn't need to be staked!

Rouge, it doesn't take as much room as you think if you have a fence or something you can tie it to. These 2 each take up about 1 square foot at ground level. I cinch them in a bit but they still cover a good area above. I wouldn't be without them. Bees love them. I planted them both at the same time from the same source, but one blooms a bit later than the other. Just keeps the bees happier that much longer I guess.

{{gwi:262051}}

Do I have room for this? I could make room I think. Plus I was doing some reading and one site recommended cutting it back by half earlier in the season to reduce height. I'm also pretty good about not allowing anything to take up more space than I want it to.

So this is a veronica. No wonder I like it.

Kevin

Hey Kevin, this is Vernonia. I did cut mine back earlier this year and they are still this tall. If you get one, be sure to deadhead or you'll have them all over. And they don't call it ironweed for nothing. Very hard to pull out seedlings.

You may also want to check out a different one which is smaller with much different foliage. Look for 'Iron Butterfly'
It's the feathery foliage scattered in this border and has not bloomed yet. I like that it blooms so late, and so do the bees.

{{gwi:262052}}

I have a shorter Vernonia species that (after an early summer cut-back) is about a foot and a half tall.

Nice, but the tall sorts are more impressive.

The only problem may be invasiveness with some species in certain climates (the thought that ironweed might refer to iron running roots gives me pause). A Texas garden designer who works with native plants (Sally Wasowski, I think) reported on one garden that became hopelessly overrun with one of the native ironweeds.

I wacked mine back by half once in, perhaps, mid July.
It is now 6.5 tall instead of 8.and blooming away. A few stems are floppy but two weeks into bloom, it is still self supporting

-Susan, what's the pink plant blooming in the foreground of your last pic??
CMK

I have a vernonia... Missouri Ironweed I think. Just got two of them earlier this year at the MSU plant sale. The one isn't getting enough sun but the one that is has grown about 4 feet and blooms plenty. I staked it the other day after a heavy down pour knocked it over and its perked right back up. Love it.

I am a bit surprised that vernonia is not more well known since it invariably appears (in the UK) as part of the well-known selection of late summer bloomers with the usual suspects (rudbeckias, asters, VERNONIA CRINITA, and eupatorium (or whatever name is being given to JPW). Truly, I am a bit (lot) fed up with this endlessly recycled demonic quadratic bore-fest and have thankfully enjoyed reading about chrysanthemums - a plant that has been out of favour for so long in the UK that it must surely be due for a return (along with those 70's stalwarts, conifers. Somehow, dahlias have managed to stage a renaissance (Christopher Lloyd?) but not so chrysanthemums.
In truth, my garden has been full-on since March and I am getting seriously hacked-off with the endless watering by now and don't particularly care about prolonging the season endlessly....but if I did, I would be enjoying a selection of schizostylus, nerines, sternbergia lutea and saffron crocus - plants which delight close inspection (mysteriously, I have been immune to the charms of tricyrtis). Meanwhile, the rampant late summer parts of my allotment (obviously, I am not immune to fads and fancies and have all those grassy and daisy thugs) have been left to argue amongst themselves for space and water). However, I suspect my antipathy to those large scale prairie type plantings comes from the fact that a small urban garden looks ridiculous, trying to replicate the wide-open spaces of Kansas or whatever..........but, in the middle of moving to the UK equivalent (Norfolk), it might be time to revive the 'prairie' style along the richly damp southern aspect of the woods, overlooking watermeadows and the river Yare. Gardening is so dependent on location and the particular architectural and geographical language of place (the vernacular - pretty much the only design trope I attempt to follow with any enthusiasm).

Hey Christin, they were and un-named sedum. I bought them last fall (i think 6 of them) because they were only about 1 foot tall, so I figured that was pretty close to what they would be in the garden. They're more like 2-3' tall but they don't flop and have a thinner leaf. Haven't tried to get an id on them. Might cut them back next summer to see if they'll be a bit shorted upon blooming. I like the stem color with the physocarpus.

-Susan, my thoughts exactly with the stem color and Ninebark! The flowers looked like sedum but then I was totally thrown by the elongated leaves. Very cool. If you ever get an ID on it LMK!

Let me just add that so far I have not had luck with my V. crinata. I got it three or four years ago and the dern thing is barely over a foot tall. Only thing I can think of is that the soil pH here is off for it. Either that or it needs supremely moist conditions.
CMK