Winstem is a very tall plant for bees, butterflies, beetles and other pollinating insects. The yellow flowers bloom in late summer into early fall. Providing the animals with high quality nectar. The bright yellow flowers are daisy like with both ray and disk flowers. The ray flowers are not always present in the same numbers on each flower giving the appearance of the flowers being unbalanced. The flowers are at both their top of the plant and in the leaf nodes. The leaves are bright green and in youth are ovate. As the plant grows they lengthen and become narrow and pointed. The stems are winged, meaning they have extra tissue along the stems giving the appearance of wings. The plant can grow to a height of 5 to 9 feet depending on where is planted.
 
Even though the flowers are beautiful and provide good for insects this is not a plant for a formal garden. It can spread quickly and needs plenty of room. Plant it in a meadow, along a fence or in a spot to hide an unsightly area. Wingstem grows well in full sun to part shade. It likes rich moist soil so if you have poor dryer soils give it some shade.
 
Good companions for Wingstem are Common Milkweed, New England Aster, New York Aster, Flattopped White Aster, Greencone flower, and Joe Pye weed. For pollinators in the spring Canada Anemone should be able to compete with it and of course grasses such as indian grass and big blue stem.