Ironweed Around Our Vineyard

During the late summer, my husband always points out this tall purple flower that grows in our south field that we have earmarked for growing more Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. While he is brush hogging the fields he gets really close to the "weed". We haven't been curious enough to find out what this weed is until this year when my husband, brush hogging another area of the field found another stand of this very tall purple flowered weed.
On this day, my husband said, you need to come and see this and bring your camera. I was intrigued. I didn't know what he was going to show me. Then he pointed out the tall weed and the Great Spangled Fritillary that was obviously enjoying the weed. In a previous blogpost, I wrote about Great Spangled Fritillary, such a very pretty butterfly.

When we went home, we did a Google search on tall purple flowered weed and learned that it was an ironweed, (Veronia).

We told our friend about the ironweed growing in our field and she concurred that it was a beautiful weed and she is always looking to get seeds. I found a website on how to grow ironweed:¹
Growing ironweed
Plant ironweed during the early weeks of spring if you’re cultivating it from seed. Ironweed seeds can winter over in the ground when planted in the fall, but you need to start them indoors and transplant in spring.
1. Plant ironweed seeds in well-draining, moist soil full of humus.
2. When starting a tall ironweed plant from a cutting, start it in full sun after the final threat of a frost has passed in the spring.
3. Keep seeds damp during germination.
4. When sowing tall ironweed seeds outdoors in spring, plant them between one to two feet apart. Wait until the seeds develop a plant two inches tall before transplanting outdoors.
5. Plant white fluffy seeds one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch in the ground. Note that ironweed seeds spread naturally as a slight wind blows once they’re ready for harvesting.
6. Keep perennial ironweed plants healthy by dividing them every three to four years. Dig up the root of the plants and cut away any dead portions of the root and crown, which often show signs of decay near the center of the root. Cut up the root in chunks, then replant in fresh soil.
Any plant, weed or otherwise that butterflies love to come to is a friend of ours. We hope to have stands of ironweed on the northeast side of our vineyard as a buffer between the vineyard and our forest.
References:
1. Zoey Skye, Natural News, How to identify and grow ironweed, a medicinal plant, July 14, 2020.