Landscape Spotlight: Garden Worthy Goldenrod

Who’s in the mood for goldenrod? How about almost every bee and migrating Monarch butterfly that you know! I love seeing it all over the side of the road (indeed it is almost the only native thing left) but the one on the side of the road (usually it is tall goldenrod, Solidago altissima) is probably not the right one for your garden because it spreads by roots.

I have posted before about garden worthy goldenrods, but I want to spotlight one that I have seen used to beautiful effect a number of times (including at my own mailbox). I'm including several photos from over the years.

This was a traffic circle in Big Canoe, GA.

This goldenrod is called wrinkleleaf goldenrod (Solidago rugosa) and it does have textured foliage. It naturally has a splayed inflorescence when it blooms at the top of the plant. It is harder to find the species than the very popular cultivar known as Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’ which is shorter, more compact, and more floriferous than the species. All these photos are of 'Fireworks.'

According to this link, the cultivar ‘Fireworks’ was a selection of the natural species that “was introduced in 1993 from the North Carolina Botanical Garden, originally having been selected from a coastal plain population of the species. It was the top-rated cultivar in the 5-year goldenrod trials at the Chicago Botanic Garden (completed in 2001) that included 22 species and cultivars. Hardy to zone 4, it doesn’t get mildew or rust, and the slowly expanding clump grows 3-4 feet tall.”

You can read about that Chicago trial here.

A note about cultivars: I don't recommend them for use in restoration areas. For large garden areas, it is ecologically beneficial to incorporate some straight species plants along with the cultivars to provide good genetic diversity.