By Melinda Heigel, NC State Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteer of Durham County

Goldenrod lights up the fall garden as summer blooms fade. This plant offers a lot more than just its pretty flowers; goldenrod also supports beneficial insects and birds late in the season. (Image credit: Melinda Heigel)

Want outstanding fall color? Plant goldenrod. Nothing says fall is coming quite like the vibrant yellow hues of the this plant (Solidago spp.). In central North Carolina this perennial wildflower typically begins to appear in late summer and is a harbinger of brilliant trees ablaze, mums, and, of course, pumpkin-spice everything. You can often spot this North American native growing high and unruly by roadsides and in all sorts of wild areas. But there are ways to incorporate this beneficial plant into your home landscape.

Biology

Goldenrod is the common name for the biologically diverse Solidago genus. Currently, there are over 120 documented species, both natives and cultivars, of this stunning bloomer. According to Clemson University, botanists still have a lot to discover about this plant because some of the species exhibit polyploidy (or having more than two copies of each chromosome). This feature makes for incredibly diverse traits in species: taller, shorter, some that prefer moisture, some that like drier soils, sun, part sun, and even flower characteristics and bloom time.¹

Benefits of Goldenrod

Hardy

Aside from its beauty, goldenrod has a lot of great characteristics. Overall, this plant is easy to grow and tough. Most species do well in a wide range of soil types, are heat-tolerant, water-wise, and even tolerate drought once established. Goldenrod offers a long and prolific bloom time and can benefit from regular deadheading during the growing season.

Its resilience is famous, and gardeners know that this plant can thrive and naturalize easily in the landscape (read as some healthy “management” may be necessary to divide the plant every few years to control its spread) if you plant a weedy type. Goldenrod spreads by rhizomes and wind-blown seeds. Below, we’ll address some less assertive types that can offer great alternatives in a smaller home garden. And, finally, goldenrod is deer resistant and has no serious disease or insect problems.

Wild-life Friendly

Goldenrod draws pollinators into the garden. (Left to right) Two spider wasps on goldenrod and an unknown bee species feasting on Solidago juncea’s nectar. (Image credits: Eric Benson, Clemson University Extension, 2020; Fritz Flohr Reynolds CC BY-SA 3.0)

With the growing awareness of the role pollinators play in our ecosystem and the immense survival pressure they face, more gardeners are planting pollinator-friendly plants.  Goldenrod certainly falls into this category. Many of the species produce enticing and beneficial nectar for a host of bees, wasps, flies, moths, and beetles. It is also a host plant for the wavy-lined emerald moth (Synchlora aerata). Given the bloom time, ranging from June through October, these plants provide needed late-season sustenance. They also support more butterflies and moths than any other plant in its category.  Over 115 species of Lepidoptera (the order of insects that includes butterflies and moths) larvae rely on the plants’ leaves and shoots for food. After the blooms fade at the end of the season, birds eat goldenrod’s dried seeds while native bees nest in their hollow stems for the winter. Hands down, this plant has a positive impact on wildlife in your landscape.

Characteristics of Goldenrod

As highlighted above, there are a lot of variables within the Solidago species. It’s best to do a little research on the type of plant you are buying based on the specific characteristics you seek for your garden. However, all goldenrods are herbaceous perennial plants that generally bloom between June and October. While they range in height, habit, and environmental preferences, most prefer sunny conditions.  They have a clumping, tall, or climbing habit and produce showy blooms of tiny golden flower heads in tight, dense clusters on a long stem.² Not generally picky about soil make up, most goldenrods do prefer well-drained environments. And these plants have a wide range of growth, spanning USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 2a-8b.

From a design perspective, they provide great color and texture in the landscape late into autumn after many summer flowers are spent. Depending on the species or cultivar you choose, they work well either as a back-of-the-border or front-of-the-border plant. Their free-flowing form looks great in a meadow, natural area, or cottage garden. And of course, they are right at home in pollinator and butterfly gardens.

Recommended Types of Goldenrod

As the term wildflower might suggest, some goldenrods can get weedy and a bit unruly in the home landscape.  This plant can naturalize (spread with abandon) as it propagates by wind-strewn seeds or by underground rhizomes, so some are best left in a meadow, prairie, or woodland setting. But with so many to choose from, including ornamental and hybrids well suited to smaller spaces, there is something for every garden.

Wondering what species or cultivars might be right for your yard? The Tufts Pollinator Initiative, a group of scientists who are dedicated to pollinator conservation, has done some of the homework for gardeners.  They composed the informative table below highlighting many characteristics like preferred conditions, bloom time, height, and growth habits of Solidago widely available in the garden trade.³

(Left to right, top to bottom) Examples of goldenrods with clumping habits that translate well to the home landscape: autumn goldenrod (S. sphacelata); blue-stemmed goldenrod (Solidago caesia); wrinkle leaf goldenrod (S. rugosa ‘Fireworks’); showy goldenrod (S. speciosa); and early goldenrod (S. juncea). (Image credits: Tom Potterfield CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ; Scott Detwiler CC BY-SA 3.0; F. D. Richards CC-BY-SA 2.0; Dan Mullen CC BY-NC-ND 2.0; Dan Mullen CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Extend the season of colorful blooms in your landscape with goldenrod–an ecologically sound choice for any garden.

Notes

1–https://hgic.clemson.edu/native-notes-goldenrod/.

2–Interestingly there is a goldenrod whose flowers are creamy-white instead of yellow–the silver-rod goldenrod (Solidago bicolor).

3–https://sites.tufts.edu/pollinators/blog/

Resources and Additional Information

For general information on goldenrod, check out North Carolina State University’s Plant Toolbox site. There are also additional links to various species of the plant.

https://plants.ced.ncsu.edu/plants/solidago

Often people, unfortunately, mistake goldenrod for the allergy-inducing ragweed (Ambrosia spp.). Read Clemson Cooperative Extension’s informative fact sheet which outlines how these two plants share little other than bloom time.

Goldenrod & Ragweed

To see more images and suggestions for home-garden goldenrods, view Sea Grant’s video on these native plants.

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