Boneset
Eupatorium perfoliatum
Flat white August flowers draw a constant rotation of monarchs, bees, and wasps. Four to five feet in moist soil, and bitter leaves keep deer away.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Sep 248 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Sep 258 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Sep 268 AM – 2 PM
Essential for wet sites -- monarchs pile onto it in August and deer never touch the bitter foliage.
Boneset is one of August's essential native perennials for moist sites. The flat-topped clusters of tiny white flowers carry above distinctive perfoliate leaves -- the stem appears to pierce through the leaf itself, a distinctive feature that identifies this plant immediately in the field. On warm August mornings, the flowers are covered with a constant rotation of monarch butterflies, native bees, and wasps working the open nectar supply. At four to five feet in moist soil, it has real presence in the back of a rain garden or at the margin of a wet meadow. The foliage is bold and coarse-textured, a visual contrast to finer-leaved companions. The strong bitterness of the leaves makes it completely unpalatable to deer. An ecologically essential, utterly reliable plant for wet conditions.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown boneset propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 3–5 ft · 18–30 in wide
- USDA zones
- 3–8
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Native range
- Eastern and central North America from Quebec south to Florida and west to Nebraska and Texas, in moist to wet meadows and stream margins
Care notes for boneset.
Full to part sun in moist to wet soil. Tolerates periodic flooding and heavy clay. Cut back hard in early spring. Self-seeds in wet conditions. thin seedlings if needed to prevent overcrowding. Established clumps are long-lived and rarely need division.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside boneset.
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