We have lived here for 20 years, and this is the first time I have seen this flower. There are four plants growing in our marsh.

One single plant!

This species has been planted in the reconstructed riparian wetland along Minnehaha Creek between Nokomis Avenue and 33rd Avenue. Many other species to see there as well.

Found this plant for the first time at the site. Three plants are growing on bottomland restored prairie. Plant is not blooming yet but the leaves are so distinctive I feel safe with the ID.

East shore, lakeside of walking path, walking north just past the intersection of Maryland, Victoria and Como. Here it is November 2nd and I've finally identified them. They were beautiful in late summer.

Took pictures of these in full bloom 8-10-2013 along the path just NE of the Elm Creek Park Reserve nature building. Many walking trails there, as well as a nice restored prairie with a pretty diverse group of native flowers and grass. They did a burn here in/close to May 2012...wasn't there at the time but took pics shortly after.

Grows in clusters along the Douglas Trail especially just south of the town of Douglas. Fun to see birds drinking from the pools in the leaves after a rain.

I bought a few plants at the Friends Plant Sale some years ago. They grow everywhere in my city yard! Even up from the cracks in the patio! And yes, I see lots of those gross aphids, but I have noticed some birds plucking them off for a juicy snack. These plants attract numerous pollinators.

I bought a plant at a greenhouse near Barnum several years ago. So far I haven't had problems with it being invasive. They grow about 10 feet tall and boom profusely. I had never seen them elsewhere.

I bought one plant at a Master Gardener sale a couple years ago because I wanted native plants with some height. Bloomed last year and now mid-June is about five feet tall and there seem to be two of them (or stalk has split). Very robust looking, but my garden is small so I will have to keep spread to a minimum.

I bought one of these at the Ramsey County Master Gardener sale a couple years ago. It bloomed last year and this year it has split into 2 and it is about 7 feet tall with multiple blooms. It is really pretty and full but I won't be able to let it spread much more. Impressive plant!

Found these plants in my CRP and had hard time finding out what they are. One plant is about 7 feet tall with maybe 8 stems. Glad to see that it is not a bad plant.

We have multiple properties in Minneapolis and St. Louis Park and have been growing them for a decade. Yes, invasive... read, doesn't require a lot of care! (Yay!) We have several stands of up to 50 feet long and 8 feet wide. Noticed they were planted in Mound along the Dakota Trail where it meets Lost Lake. Quite amazing in the flowering season... but unfortunately some people think they are weeds before that! Not at all tolerant of being transplanted... has to be a very small plant, lots of soil, kept moist. Trying now to get the big brother the Compass Plant to grow, have heard that can get to 10 feet tall! But it has been very slow, years to get to five feet.

Bought this from a friend several years ago. Beautiful! Drought tolerant, thrived in Sandy soil. Sold my home, looking for plants now for my new garden.

I have many cup plants. IF they are transplanted during the summer they will limp along but will still come back the next spring and be beautiful. If transplanted in the spring they will look healthy, but may not bloom much the first year. Drought tolerant, and very eye catching. I get lots of "WOW's ! I am willing to share - just come and get them.

Looking for a source for this plant.

Pat, see "native plant nurseries..." - it's on most pages of the website. If none of those vendors carry it perhaps one knows who does.

My friend has these growing near her garage in the Bad Medicine Lake area. They are beautiful and as tall as the garage.

I have several areas of the plants and some just pop up everywhere. There must be over 30 monarchs on the flowers today and just amazing to watch. It is like this most years.

I collected seed north of Hutchinson and it grows very well, infact I do not let the seeds mature because they self seed very readily. Mine grows to about 7 feet.

At the pollinator gardens at the West Minnehaha Rec Center, St. Paul, we have more than 50 cup plants flourishing.

I have been using a group of these plants almost as a hedge around my garden. They get 10' tall each year and bring in many pollinators. And are beautiful. I have actually been looking at ways to create long hedges with them.

I accidentally ordered a whole flat of cup plants. I only wanted 2 for my new rain garden. I planted 5 in a row at the back of the garden. It sounds like they are quite pretty and I'm glad to read that they exist at Elm Creek which is nearby. Not thrilled about the red aphids but since I planted hummingbird plants, maybe birds will take care of them?

I had gotten one of these plants from a guy several years ago, but he didn't know what it was called. I just searched now to find out what it was and found this site. It is a focal point in my perennial bed and it is spreading. I have yet to notice any aphids, but if they have been there, I haven't seen them. I do have lots of birds, so perhaps that's why. I am excited to know this is a native wildflower for Minnesota. Several folks speculated it was a weed.

I had this in my CRP planting 20 years ago. It is now invasive. Ugly and overwhelming. Mine grows over 12 feet tall, soaks you to the bone to mow out, overtakes all other wildflowers and grasses. Even invades in shrub and tree rows. DONT PLANT this "flower" weed- even the dandelions are better than this! It has ruined my prairie grass plantings and impossible to ever fully get rid of.

One of the taller herbaceous perennials, growing from 8 to 12 feet tall, depending on how much rain we get each year. Long-lived plants forming multi-stemmed clumps that do not spread. Does self-seed. The upright stems produce many flowers in mid to late summer that are loved by Monarch Butterflies, and the back yard some years have up to 50 monarchs on these plants. A valuable food source for them during an early migration south. The seeds are loved by Gold Finches and every year I have 10 or 20 of them that spend about two weeks in the back yard eating the seeds. The thick square stems persist and with 20 or so plants they are some work to clean up. Grows well in part shade to full sun. Never had any insect problems.

This plant grows along fencing in my yard and provides 6-8 ft tall natural privacy wall that birds love year round

These are just beginning to bloom near Isinours, along the bike trail.

I purchased a single little plant a few years ago at a Master Gardeners sale.I planted it by the electric ground to the house so I would stop trying to dig it up! Mine have very dark green large leaves and grow very tall. I had a flattened flower spade next to the ground to tie them to. They pulled the shovel over so I just replaced it with a 6' T-post as they now are over 9' tall and numerous. They seed the flower bed easily. This year I shared many plants with others. I made sure that looked at the pictures to know what to expect! While visiting the National Eagle Center, I noticed a similar plant. It is identified as a cup plant. It is shorter in height, leaves are lighter colored, and smaller leaves and flowers. I thought out could be a lighting difference. Mine is in full sun while theirs are shaded by the building. Did the "google" thing. There seemed to be only one variety until I reached this site!

I see that this is not supposed to be this far north, but I am pretty confidant that's what this is. It was a pretty large bunch of it.

Hi folks.Cup plants are native also in Southern Ontario, Canada.They nearly got extirpated years ago by the pioneers (I understand) but few plants where found surviving along the Grand River. They are now very much appreciated by native plant lovers not only for their looks, but also for a super pollinator feeder when in bloom and in fall for the American Goldfinch. Beekeeper love them.

These pop up around our neighborhood quite a bit, and we have a bunch that have grown right in front of our house. While they're large enough to be a bit unwieldy right by the sidewalk, the bees and birds love them so much that I don't have the heart to take them out!

Have some in yard. Every year something bores into the round green buds and turns it mostly black and then it doesn't flower. There are many red aphids on the leaves including before the buds appear. What is it and how do I stop it? Thanks

Several plants currently blooming right on the riverbank.

We have a lot of these! The wetter the soil, the bigger the plant. Ours also get the but that wrecks the flowers as Mark mentioned on 6/24. Worse on the smaller plants.

My friend has a patch of these in her shady yard. They grow very large and pollinators love them. I also found a clump of these behind a parking lot in Hudson, WI.

I am trying to get rid of the cup plants in my small city yard, which have spread fairly rapidly from my neighbor's property. They are a pain to remove, given the size and thickness of the root bed.

Nancy, you should talk to your neighbor about their spread.

I planted a few 4 years ago along my fence on the shady side. There beautiful and get 6'-19' tall. But now they are starting to come under the fence into my hasta garden they are hard to control.

a teaspoon of dish detergent in a spray bottle will kill the red aphids in a few minutes

Brian, that may kill the aphids but keep in mind aphids are food for other beneficial insects.