Roughleaf Goldenrod

Solidago rugosa

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.