Solidago bicolor - Silverrod

Sizes available: #1 (Trade gallon)

Basics: zones 3-9, 1-3" x 1', full sun to part shade, spike of white flowers held above the crown in mid-late summer through fall, likes medium to dry soils and is not picky as to soil type, but prefers good drainage.

Common names: Silverrod, White Goldenrod

Family: Asteraceae

Origin/Distribution: Manitoba east to Nova Scotia, south to Georgia, west to Louisiana, north to Illinois and Wisconsin, native to Maine. These plants were grown from seed collected in New England.

Habitat: thin wooded area, woodland clearings and edges, roadsides, fields

More: This is an underused goldenrod for the garden. In particular it works well in a shady woodland space where the white blooms show up beautifully and its size works well with other native woodlanders in a flowery, leafy underlayer below mature trees. The genus Solidago is a powerhouse supporter of hundreds of insect species, including these three specialist bees that are native to Maine: Andrena asteris, Adrena hirticincta, and Andrena nubecula. Solidago bicolor is also a larval host for the Maine native Synchlora aerata, the Wavy-lined Emerald Moth (aka the Camouflaged Looper). Deer and rabbit resistant.

Source: Van Berkum Nursery, grown from seed collected in New England

Image credits: Fritz Flohr Reynolds via Creative Commons through the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox; illustration from Wikimedia Commons