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| Solidago petiolaris |
Goldenrod needs to be in more gardens! Its late summer and
fall blooms are very important to resident and migrating
pollinators such as the Monarch butterfly. Yet, its message of positivity
doesn’t always reach the gardeners. Instead, a fear of aggressive behavior (and
the ridiculously inaccurate assumption that it contributes to allergies) keeps
people from using it in designed landscapes.
A new trial garden report for goldenrod was released recently by Mt. Cuba Center as part of their ongoing efforts to evaluate native plants for gardens. This is their sixteenth report and two more are in-progress. These 3-year trials focus on the Mid-Atlantic region, but many of the species on their trials are native to Georgia as well.
I have written about some good
goldenrods for Georgia in 2011 and again about a particularly available species in 2023.
The report’s overall assessment on aggressive species is
that “only a handful of the evaluated Solidago
could be categorized as aggressive, and even these plants can be used to great
effect in naturalistic gardens.” This was a full-sun trial but in the Mid-Atlantic
that even includes our shade-tolerant species Solidago caesia. Several of the species of Euthamia were included. Of the 70 plants tested. Some of them were straight
species, some of them undescribed (listed at the genus name only), and some
were cultivars.
For beginners, the report includes a lot of useful information about plant structure (see photo above), taxonomy, habit, and care. Each of the top 13 performers has a detailed description (see example below). There is also a downloadable spreadsheet that I found very useful. Sun exposure, moisture, height, bloom time, insect activity, and even deer browse impacts are shown for each species in the spreadsheet.
I encourage you to read the report (and some of the other reports!) and get inspired, ready to incorporate some goldenrod into your garden this spring. Goldenrod (Solidago) is a keystone perennial for Georgia gardeners and your impact on supporting the local ecosystem increases with your use of it.
