How can you not love Goldenrods? They provide glorious splashes of sunny yellow in the fall garden that make me smile every time I see them.
There are around 150 species of Goldenrod worldwide – most of them native to North America. These sturdy members of the Asteraceae have a lot to offer in the garden.
They’re easy to grow; are popular with a wide variety of pollinators – especially butterflies and tiny native bees; are deer resistant; and combine beautifully with native grasses like Andropogon and Schizachyrium and other fall-blooming perennials to provide a blaze of color in the fall garden. We generally carry three varieties here at Shooting Star Nursery.
Solidago ‘Fireworks’ (right): A truly striking variety, with dense plume-like flowerheads of bright golden flowers that really do look like exploding fireworks! Solidago ‘Fireworks’ gets about 3-4’ tall by 2-3’ wide, prefers average water, and also tolerates clay soils.
Solidago ‘Little Lemon’ (left): ‘Little Lemon’ is a great choice for gardeners who love the look of Goldenrods, but don’t have the room for a full-sized plant. Plants get about 12” tall by 12-18” wide, and the stalks of lemon-yellow flowers make a lovely choice as a cut flower.
Solidaster ‘Lemore’ (right): As the name suggests, Solidaster is a cross between a Solidago and an Aster. ‘Lemore’ has all the great attributes of Solidagos, but has slightly larger pale yellow flowers and is also relatively drought tolerant. Plants get to be about 2-2.5’ tall and wide.