Roughleaf Goldenrod
Solidago rugosa
Arching golden sprays from September into October on a workhorse for wet clay and rain garden edges. Seed heads feed goldfinches into winter.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
The best native goldenrod for wet, moist, or clay sites. it handles conditions that would kill most goldenrods and delivers the same ecological punch in fall.
Roughleaf Goldenrod is the straight species version of 'Fireworks', a three-to-five-foot, late-blooming native goldenrod with wrinkled (rugose) leaves and arching sprays of golden yellow flowers from September into October. It's a workhorse for wet and moist sites: tolerant of clay, happy in rain garden edges, thriving along stream banks and in low meadows where drainage is poor. Plant it in a naturalistic mass in a wet area and watch it form an autumn colony that pollinators won't leave alone. Roughleaf Goldenrod spreads by rhizome more assertively than some goldenrods, which makes it ideal for large-scale naturalization but requires management in smaller borders. It's one of the best native plants for stabilizing moist, disturbed soil, and its late bloom window is ecologically critical for fall-foraging native bees and migrating butterflies. The seed heads that follow feed goldfinches and other small seed-eating birds through early winter.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown roughleaf goldenrod propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
Plant roughleaf goldenrod instead of Common reed (Phragmites australis) in wet disturbed areas. Same job in the garden, without the spread.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Mature size
- 3–5 ft · 24–36 in wide
- Bloom time
- Fall
- Bloom color
- Yellow
- USDA zones
- 4–9
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America from Newfoundland south to Florida and west to Texas; moist meadows, open woods, stream banks
Care notes for roughleaf goldenrod.
Full to part sun, moist to wet soil. Extremely tolerant of poor drainage and standing water. Cut back hard in spring. Spreads assertively by rhizome. install edging or mow around it regularly to control spread in smaller gardens. Best in naturalistic settings where it can roam. Divide in spring every two to three years to rejuvenate older clumps.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside roughleaf goldenrod.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.