How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Golden Alexander
Golden Alexander is a lesser known pollinator powerhouse that is native across North America. If you want delicate yellow blooms that you can set and forget, this is your plant. Learn how to grow and care for it in this guide written by master naturalist, Sarah Jay.
Contents
Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) is a North American native plant and a pollinator powerhouse. Due to its wild appearance, it tends to be underutilized and undercultivated in the home garden. Lately ,as native plantings become more important and more desirable, it has become more available in nurseries.
Though it’s underrated, it’s such an easy plant to cultivate; it would be silly for pollinator gardeners to skip it. Especially for people in the eastern parts of North America, Golden Alexander is perfect for wild and cultivated areas of the garden.
This is a set-it-and-forget-it plant that requires little to no maintenance and has no significant pests or diseases. If you have a site that needs cheery yellow flowers that host Lepidoptera, this is your plant.
Golden Alexander Overview
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Plant Type
Herbaceous perennial
Family
Apiaceae
Genus
Zizia
Species
Aurea
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Native Area
Eastern North America
Exposure
Full sun to partial shade
Height
1-3’
Watering Requirements
Low to Medium
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Pests & Diseases
None
Maintenance
Low
Soil Type
Clay or loam
Hardiness Zone
3-8
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What Is It?
In moist prairies, limestone glades, savannahs, mesic woodlands, and abandoned fields, Golden Alexander thrives. This wild plant in the carrot family is common across the eastern half of North America, and blooms happily in spring and summer. It’s a great plant for rangelands, but also looks perfect in a more cultivated prairie or pollinator garden.
Characteristics
Golden Alexander is an herbaceous perennial hardy to most USDA hardiness zones. It’s a huge source of pollen for bees and butterflies, and it’s a larval host to the black swallowtail butterfly. As a wildflower, it is a significant food source for wildlife and a great plant for restoration due to its rapid growth rate.
It’s a deciduous plant that has a clumping form with green, serrated lanceolate leaves in a compound structure. The leaves take on a purple hue as the fall nears. The flowers are also compound umbels, which is typical of plants in the family Apiaceae. They have four to five rays and minute yellow blooms that open in summer.
After the domed flowers bloom in spring through summer, they are pollinated and fade to form small purplish fruit capsules. These remain on the plant until late autumn, when they fall to the ground. It’s at this time that the foliage browns and fades until next spring, as the seeds experience a natural cold stratification period over the winter.
Native Area
The native range of this North American plant goes as far north as Quebec and as far south as Florida. The western range ends in Montana, but further south in Texas, and the eastern range dead ends at the Atlantic. It’s in these areas that the plant is present in thickets, moist prairies, and open woods.
Planting
While Golden Alexander is wild and weedy by some standards, it can be cultivated in containers. Therefore, people who want to grow a pollinator garden should take note! Even if there’s limited space, a small balcony pollinator garden is possible. If you plant yours in the ground, it will expand quickly, so give it some space.
Golden Alexander is a tough plant that can handle some shearing if need be (though we recommend avoiding this if you can). Any unwanted seedlings that emerge in spring can be moved or pulled easily. Plant it wherever you need more native plants. Moist sites are totally appropriate, but occasionally dry ones work too.
Transplanting
While it’s not common in the nursery trade, you can find Golden Alexander at native plant nurseries. It’s best to plant in spring in areas with mild summers, and in fall in areas that have more heat in summer.
Find a good spot in your in-ground or container pollinator garden. Dig a hole twice as wide and just as deep as the root ball of your transplant. If you grew yours from seed, gently remove it from its starter pot or 5-inch cube pot, being careful not to damage the roots.
Then, pop the entire root ball in the hole, leveling the top of the plant with the ground. Backfill and lightly press around the base to ensure the roots make contact with the soil. Water it in and you’re set.
Growing From Seed
As a native plant, Golden Alexander seeds need cold stratification for at least three months at about 40°F (4°C). To sow them indoors, pop the seeds in a baggie in moist media and place them in your refrigerator for that period before planting.
Because these are carrot family plants, they develop long taproots and can be sensitive to disturbance. Paper pots are a great choice for indoor seeding, but any starter pot or flat will do. Seeds are highly viable, and one to two per hole is perfect. Press stratified seeds into the soil surface, and wait for them to germinate.
They’ll sprout in a few weeks. Then plant them out in the season most appropriate for your region. If you’re direct sowing, simply pop them in the soil or broadcast them into the garden once temperatures dip below 50°F (10°C). They will stratify over winter and emerge in spring.
How to Grow
Golden Alexander is not fussy in the slightest. You won’t struggle to cultivate it, as long as you don’t live in the desert. Give it plenty of sun, some water to get established, and it will reward you with years of lovely sunny blooms.
Light
Golden zizia needs full sun to partial shade. In areas with hot summers, a little afternoon shade is good. Otherwise, it can handle the most sun-intensive areas of your garden. Make sure it gets at least six hours of sun per day, and up to eight in more mild summer areas.
Water
In the wild, Golden Alexander likes semi-moist to sometimes dry sites. If you’re just getting yours planted, give it regular water as it establishes. When new growth begins, your plant is rooted, and it can handle some dry soil. Container plantings need more frequent watering, especially where it gets hot. In this case, daily watering may be necessary.
Soil
A well-draining, rich soil is good for your golden zizia. Give it a high-quality potting soil in containers, and loamy or clayey soil in the ground. You can amend heavy clay soil with some compost to improve drainage if you wish. However, it may not be necessary.
Temperature and Humidity
Ideal temperatures range from 65 to 85°F (18-29°C). Heat is not a problem for established plants. In frost, the plant begins to die back for the year, but it remains root hardy in zones 3 through 8, where it grows new foliage in spring.
Fertilizing
As a native and a mostly wild plant, you don’t need to add fertilizer to this plant. If you do, it could suffer from poor performance due to an overabundance of nutrients. Instead, plant yours in optimal conditions, and watch it do its thing.
Maintenance
When it comes to native plants like Golden Alexander, the best thing to do for pollinators is to avoid deadheading and wait until late spring to do any hard pruning or cleanup. The seeds are food for birds and small mammals, and the leaves are food for the larval stage of the black swallowtail butterfly. The stems are nesting material for native bees.
However, if you’d like to prevent the spread of this vigorous plant, you can deadhead the flowers before they go to seed.
Propagation
If you want more Golden Alexander around your garden, it’s best to stick to seed propagation and division. Attempting to propagate by cutting is difficult and may yield poor results.
Division
The best season for division is spring, just after basal leaves have emerged from last year’s roots. This is a good time to locate new sprouts and relocate them if you want to make room for something else, or get them to a more ideal location.
Dig around the perimeter of your plants, and remove them gently from the ground. Locate divisions where separate roots and leaves are growing. Then gently pry them apart and replant in your desired area. Water them in, and let them go. They’ll take off quickly.
Common Problems
Golden Alexander is a pretty, problem-free plant. There are no known pests and diseases worth discussing. As long as you plant in the right conditions – of which there are many options – you’ll cultivate a healthy and lovely patch of ever-expanding spring and summer blooms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of Golden Alexander?
This plant is a boon to a prairie garden, as it offers food to wildlife and to the larval stage of the black swallowtail butterfly. It also fills in areas quickly with sunny, golden blooms that emerge in the first year.
Are Golden Alexander flowers edible?
They are! The leaves and flowers of the plant are edible raw or cooked.
Is Golden Alexander invasive?
No. Golden Alexander is a North American native plant. It isn’t aggressive but can be vigorous. To limit its spread, divide it in spring.
Should you cut back Golden Alexander?
While you can cut back this plant, due to its benefit to wildlife, it’s best not to. However, you can do so late in spring to limit damage to pollinators that nest in its stems.
