Boneset, Eupatorium perfoliatum
Boneset stands straight. The white flowers stand out amid the other plants pumping out nectar and speaking out an invitation to everyone who can fly. The large flat flowerheads bloom for a long time from July until fall. The leaves are coarse and give the plant character. Boneset is a hardy plant that can help you control pests in your vegetable garden.
 
Ecology:
Boneset is a magnet for predatory insects, including assassin bugs, soldier beetles, tachinid flies, syrphid flies and wasps. Lots of different kinds of native wasps: thread-waited wasps, potter wasps, paper wasps, sand wasps, bee wolves, grass-carrying wasps and cuckoo wasps. They are all good helpers in the garden, especially the vegetable garden. And then also butterflies, clearwing moths and bees come to nectar on the easy accessible flowers. 
Boneset also offers pollen to native bees and supports specialist bees that can use the pollen to make bee bread and provision their brood cells.
Goldfinches and other songbirds feed on the small seeds.
 
Growing conditions:
Boneset grows in wetlands, floodplains and wet meadows in the wild, but it can grow in regular garden conditions in full to partial sun. It is a great addition to a rain garden since it can tolerate short times of wet soil and drought.