Wild Quinine
Parthenium integrifolium
Lacy flat-topped white blooms June through August on a clump that shrugs off clay, drought, and heat. Dried seed heads hold in arrangements.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
Prairie-tough with lacy white midsummer flowers, bold textured foliage, and dried stems worth cutting.
Wild quinine is the tough, prairie-tested workhorse of the midsummer garden. It produces clusters of small, flat-topped white flowers that look almost lacy from a distance, not flashy, but genuinely beautiful in a refined, structural way. The blooms attract a wide range of short-tongued insects who appreciate the open, accessible flower form, and the dried seed heads cut and hold in arrangements through winter. The foliage is large, bold, and deeply textured, forming a substantial clump that handles clay, drought, and heat without complaint. It does not self-seed aggressively. Plant it where you want something that returns reliably, holds its form, and does its ecological work without any drama. Cut flowers are a bonus.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown wild quinine 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
- 2–4 ft · 18–24 in wide
- Bloom time
- June–August
- USDA zones
- 4–8
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Native range
- Eastern and central United States from New England south to Georgia and west to Kansas and Nebraska
Care notes for wild quinine.
Full sun in average to dry soil. Tolerates clay and drought. actually performs better in lean soil than in rich, amended beds. Cut back hard in early spring. Division is rarely needed, as established clumps are long-lived and self-sustaining.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside wild quinine.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.