Solidago caesia - Blue-stemmed Goldenrod

Sizes available: #1 (Trade gallon)

Basics: zones 3-9, 18-36" x 18-24", full sun to part shade (maybe even more shade), yellow blooms late summer into fall, tolerates dry, poor soils and is a clumper not a runner. 

Common names: Blue-stemmed Goldenrod, Axillary Goldenrod, Woodland Goldenrod, Wreath Goldenrod

Family: Asteraceae

Origin/Distribution: Occurs from Florida north to Ontario and is native to all New England states including Maine. These plants were grown from seed collected in New England.

Habitat: wood's edge, open deciduous woods with high, light shade, well-drained slopes in dappled sun/shade

More: Solidago cassia is an attractive and "garden worthy" goldenrod suited to a full sun to part shade border. At maturity it forms a 1.5 to 2 foot clump and will play well with the other plants in your garden. 

Goldenrods are keystone species in our region and offer excellent late-season forage for pollinators as well as being host plants for many insect larvae*. There are many different forms of goldenrods that can grow in various conditions. To know them is to love them.

Goldenrods have gotten bad publicity for causing allergies, however, they do not. The wind-pollinated ragweeds (Ambrosia species) that bloom at the same time, but are much less showy, are the cause of hay fever. Goldenrod pollen is large and sticky in order to adhere to visiting insects and therefore cannot become airborne.

*Here is a very general list of the insects that utilize our beautiful goldenrods: Butterflies, Moths, Beetles, Carpenter bees, Sweat bees, Plasterer bees, (The North Carolina Extension Gardeners Plant Toolbox has an extensive list of Goldenrod-supported specialized bees. Check it out!), Sphecid wasps, Vespid wasps, Tachnid flies, Flesh flies, Blow flies, Muscid flies, the Gall-formers such as Epiblema scudderiana, Asteromyia carbonifera, Gnorimoschema gallae solidaginis, and Procecidochares atra, all of which are native to Maine (such an interesting group - look for the galls in the late fall and early winter when they are easy to spot on the dried up stems).

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

Image credits: Scott Detweiler via Creative Commons through the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox; illustration from Wikimedia Commons