Wildlife – Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Durham County

By Melinda Heigel, NC State Extension Master Gardener^SMvolunteer 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.

Article Short Link https://wp.me/p2nIr1-4OY

by Wendy Diaz, EMGV

On August 5, 2018, the New Hope Audubon Society visited my yard after I filled out a simple online request form¹. I heard about their Bird Friendly Habitat Certification Program²after attending the Backyard Biodiversity talks which were presented at the Chatham Conservation Partnership meeting on July 19, 2018. My growing interest in the importance of my garden to wildlife came about because I began reading Doug Tallamy’s book, Bringing Nature Home³. The book was recommended at a Durham Garden Forum discussion this spring on native plants by Ken Moore, assistant director of NC Botanical Garden Emeritus.

Before The Visit

The certification level (silver, gold or platinum) is determined by calculating the percentage of your available property (about 13,250 sq.ft. in my case) covered by native or invasive plant species and the number of wildlife habitat options⁴available in the yard. My 0.37 acre (16,117 sq. ft.) pie-shaped property benefits from a mature hardwood buffer area in the backyard so I thought I would achieve at least some degree of bird friendliness. The process is more efficient if you have a good plot survey of your property and a preliminary list of your plant species. I already had these items as a master gardener because we compiled these documents in our Landscape Management Plan as part of the Master Gardener Certification. I was also thankful that in previous years we removed invasive species such as the ice-damaged Bradford Pear (Pyrus calleryana) and a messy mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin). There are multiple lists of invasive species to avoid planting in the Piedmont available at education institutional websites such as the North Carolina Botanical Garden⁵and North Carolina State University Going Native website⁶as well as other organizations^7,8.

During the Visit

Three representatives from the New Hope Audubon Society slowly walked around my yard and natural buffer area and patiently answered all my questions and took notes pointing out species of plants that were good, not so good and considered an invasive threat for birds. It was a customized assessment of my yard and garden with respect to native plant species and wildlife habitat and a very educational two hours. I was very delighted to be informed that I had the diminutive native Crane-fly orchids (Tipularia discolor) under my beech tree (Fagus grandifolia) which I had never noticed until they pointed them out as well as identified a shade-tolerant native Redring Milkweed (Asclepias variegata L.) near a very large white oak (Quercus alba). One of North Carolina’s smallest woody plants, Spotted Wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata, aka pipsissewa) was observed in the natural area. A native ground cover of Virginia snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria) was also scattered throughout the leaf litter. Other native shrubs of arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum) and St. Andrew’s-cross (Hypericum hypericoides (L.) Crantz) were quite common in my backyard, not to mention a young Black gumtree (Nyssa sylvatica).

Crane-fly orchids (*Tipularia discolor*) **Photo taken by Wendy Diaz on August 9, 2018**

Redring Milkweed (*Asclepias variegata L*.) **Photo taken by Wendy Diaz on May 22, 2016**

As a gardener, I have been reformed through education. The New Hope Audubon Society pointed out the many invasive species and also the natives in my yard. Why are natives important? Native plants, especially native trees, host a variety of insects that are necessary for birds to feed their young and these plants host the insects that are vital to birds and the complex food webs that have evolved in our local area^2,3. Lists of native plants ideal for your area can be found on these educational institution websites^5,6or you can use the helpful online tool⁹by just entering your zip code into the Audubon Society database of over 700 bird-friendly North Carolina native plants¹⁰. I obtained a list of 116 native plants that are important bird resources, relatively easy to grow and available at area native nurseries for my area.

Native plants covered about 30% of my available property (14 native canopy trees, 10 understory trees, 11 native shrubs, 18 native herbaceous plants, 8 native vines as well as leaves and decaying ground matter). I would like to take credit for most of these plants but the truth is, the homebuilders left the natural area behind my house with the existing forest more or less intact. Nevertheless, I did plant several native herbaceous plants such as beauty berry (Callicarpa Americana) in my perennial borders, pollinator and rain gardens and native magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) and red cedars (Juniperus virginiana) for privacy screens. I also had several wildlife habitat options such as a snag (part of a dead tree), leaves left as mulch, pollinator garden, bundles of branches, blue bird houses, bird baths and no cats.

I did some damage in the past and roughly 10 % of my available property contained what they referred to as high threat invasive plants. When I first moved to the United States, I was a dangerous gardener ecologically speaking. Armed with very little knowledge of the southeast ecology but a strong desire to plant attractive flowering trees and vines that I could not grow in Canada, I planted a golden rain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata)⁸, Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis), a mimosa (Albizia julibrissin), burning bush (Euonymus alatus), Bigleaf periwinkle (Vinca major) and English ivy (Hedera helix). The Bradford Pear (Pyrus calleryana) planted by the homebuilders was not my fault. The Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium viminium), heavenly bamboo (nandina) and purple beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma) invaded from elsewhere.

Volunteer invasive purple beautyberry (*Callicarpa dichotoma*) **Photo taken by Wendy Diaz on August 9, 201**

Native beautyberry (Callicarpa Americana) Photo taken by Wendy Diaz on August 9, 2018

After the Visit

The following week, I went to work pulling up some of the invasive species. I already was in the habit of pulling up mimosa seedlings as they germinated after a good rain; despite the removal of the mimosa tree over 3 years ago! Also on the clean up list were a small patch of Japanese stiltgrass, spiny olive, Chinese holly seedlings and the bigger job of removing tall nandina.

Examples of invasive species removed from my garden and yard: Japanese stiltgrass (*Microstegium viminium*), spiny olive (*Eleagnus pungens*), chinese holly (*Ilex cornuta*) **Photo** **taken by Wendy Diaz on August 9, 2018**

Heavenly bamboo (*nandina*) removed from holly hedge. **Photo taken by Wendy Diaz August 9, 2018**

A few weeks after their visit, I received a package from the New Hope Audubon Society. In the end, my garden was certified a Gold Level wildlife habitat garden. They provided a plaque/sign that I hung proudly near our porch, a two page summary of their assessment listing number of native plant species in the canopy, understory, herbaceous and native vines along with recommendations for habitat improvement and provided a list of alternative plants to achieve the same landscaping goals only with native plants¹¹. They also provided recommendations on the highest threat invasive species (10%) and other potentially invasive species. Am I going for a Platinum certification in the future? Yes, but that requires reducing the available property with high threat invasive species to less than 10% and increasing the coverage by natives from 30% to 50%! I will do the work in stages after I make a plan and that will be the subject of my next blog.

Ever since their visit, three things have happened to me 1) I am noticing invasive species everywhere and 2) I am more observant of the birds and caterpillars and enjoy taking their photographs and 3) I am more appreciative of the commonly ignored but important native species in my yard. Our HOA discourages fences so I have resolved to embrace the wildlife that use my yard as a transportation corridor and as for my much loved ornamentals like hostas and other deer-loving plants, they are restricted to zones near my house where the deer do not seem graze. I found this exercise educational and rewarding and I enjoyed getting the attractive sign and recognition for my gardening hobby and stewardship. I encourage like-minded gardeners to contact the Audubon Society for their own certification.

“Certified Bird Friendly Habitat” sign that came with the Gold Level Certificate and two-page wildlife habitat assessment. **Photo taken by Wendy Diaz on October 25, 2018**

Cardinal eating in native beautyberry (*Callicarpa Americana*) **Photo taken by Wendy Diaz on October 11, 2018**

References:

Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Durham County

Tag: Wildlife

Plant Goldenrod for Outstanding Fall Color