Wild Quinine: Long Blooming, Strong Foliage, Drought Tolerant
Increasingly available at native plant nurseries and garden centers!
You may have noticed the native perennial, wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium), for sale at more and more places. When I first saw it, It wasn't exactly selling itself. The plants I noticed for sale had a few tired leaves and one floppy flower stem. In the interest of "research," a rationale I use again and again, I tried it and I am so glad I did!
The unimpressive quart sized plants put in the ground in early autumn bolted to life in late spring pushing out really robust green strappy foliage. Those quart sized plants seemingly became two to three feet wide in an instant. They grew multiple flower stems their first year and keep right on going.
Wild quinine is very attractive to native bees and beneficial flies. It grows with a tap root so may not fare well in transplanting once established.
Growing
Good news. Wild quinine grows well in medium to dry conditions in full sun. It's totally drought tolerant once established. Most sources say it prefers well drained soil but in my clay soils, it's doing just fine. The plant grows two to four feet high and two to three feet wide. It needs no special care.
Flowers
wild quinine 
narrow leaf mountain mint
The flowers are tiny and clustered. They last in the garden - six weeks or more! From a distance, they flowers look a lot like the flowers of slender leaf mountain mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium) or yarrow (Achillea). The foliage though is quite different than those two perennials. Wild quinine foliage grows as a large rosette of wide leaves that give the plant heft and presence. You can mix wild quinine in with other perennials as at Mt. Cuba in the top photo or plant it en masse. It is a great and easy filler plant for bare spots too.
Cutbacks
no cutback 
flower stems cutback 
cut all the way back
I'm always lured in by the notion of a summer cutback of perennials that will, miraculously, cause a second flush of flowers nearly as strong as the first. That has proved to be quite illusive in my garden but I gave it a try with the wild quinine. I left one plant as it was - no cut back. I removed the faded flower stalks only on the second plant. On the third plant, I cut it back to the ground, leaving only a handful of the most pristeen of the bold leaves. The plant with no cut back looks full and full of grey seed heads. The other two each sent up one small lonely flower. The effort to cut back did not make any meaningful difference for me.
If you are growing wild quinine, please share your experience!
Happy Gardening.
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