All About Frostweed (Verbesina virginica)

The large leaves give frostweed a rather tropical look, but it is very hardy. The plant can reach as high as 6 feet, but averages around 4 feet. Trimming it back in June will give you a fuller plant and more blooms.

Frostweed will grow in full sun, partial shade, or full shade and it requires a small amount of water to be happy. Like most wildflowers, it needs very little care. River banks, open woodlands, and shaded woods are its natural habitat, however, and copying these conditions will produce the happiest plants.

The large clusters of white flower blooms appear in August and September and are usually covered with bees and butterflies. The foliage is a larval host for the Summer Azure, Bordered Patch, and Silvery Checkerspot butterflies.

The plant gets its name from its unusual behavior in the winter. When a freeze occurs, the stems will burst and make beautiful ice formations at the base of the plants. You have to go out early to see it because the ice sculpture melts quickly.

As you can see, frostweed is a unique plant! I hope you will consider it for your own gardens.