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| Golden Ragwort blooms March 15, 2024 |
While there are many spring wildflowers that are stunningly beautiful when viewed from nearby, there aren't many that put on a bright show from afar. One that does is Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea).
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| Golden Ragwort blooms with Eastern Calligrapher (Syrphid Fly) March 25, 2024 |
Viewed from near or far, Golden Ragwort is a shining star. Or, to be more accurate, Golden Ragwort is a cluster of shining stars, often found in drifts of gold, nestled in clouds of glistening emerald green foliage.
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| Golden Ragwort winter foliage February 7, 2025 |
Let's unpack that last statement.... One of the things that really appeals to me about Golden Ragwort is the richly shining, emerald foliage which is at its best in early spring, a time when I'm craving green. For most of the year, this plant grows as a basal rosette of rounded leaves which can form a beautiful ground cover in mass. The rosettes stay evergreen through the cold, ready to start growing rapidly as the days lengthen and the weather warms up.
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| Flower buds developing above ferny foliage February 26, 2024 |
As the springtime cues of longer days and warmer temperatures come, the plants start to get "fuller and fluffier" (as my friend Barbie used to say) and, before long, ferny-looking leaves begin to appear. The ferny leaves signal that the flower stalks are beginning to grow.
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| Buds opening on a Golden Ragwort flower cluster (Very blurry Asian Ladybug on center bud) March 14, 2024 |
Soon clusters of green and purple buds are pushing skyward, on stems often suffused with deep purple. By early-mid March, the buds are breaking open into clear yellowish gold, daisy-shaped flowers that appear in flat-topped clusters held about 12-18" above the ground.
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| Cluster of Golden Ragworts in bloom March 15, 2024 |
A bed of Golden Ragworts in full bloom is breath-taking. In a woodland setting, clusters of them scattered among trees seem to create their own dappled sunlight in the shade. Even a single plant in full bloom is a bright accent that inevitably draws the eye.
Which brings me to one of the great characteristics of Golden Ragwort: it grows in a variety of conditions, ranging from full sun to fairly heavy shade, and from moderately dry soil to quite damp conditions. If you'd ask me where it does best, I'd say moist soil in light shade, but it looks good in a variety of settings.
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| Two flower stems munched by deer March 5, 2024 |
On top of its ease of siting, Golden Ragwort is also easy to transplant and grow. Best of all, it is fairly resistant to deer and other critters grazing on it. I've never noticed signs of rabbits munching and the vole damage I've seen seemed to be almost accidental from their runs running nearby. There is one time of year when the deer seem to snack on it in our yard: that is when the flower stalks are pushing up, before they bloom. I've hypothesized that the flower stalks must have less of the defensive chemicals than the foliage has overall. In any event, if we remember to spray deer deterrent on the plants during this relatively brief period of time, the deer seem to leave the plants strictly alone. If we forget the deer spray? Well, the plants bloom anyway, just lower and later in the season.
Besides deer, Golden Ragwort can help with other pests in the garden. In the native plant community, there is a growing awareness that some native plant species can help keep invasive plants at bay. Golden Ragwort is one of those species. Several years ago, Nancy Lawson, the Humane Gardener, wrote a post "How to Fight Plants with Plants" describing how she first observed this happening in her own garden, with Golden Ragwort keeping Garlic Mustard from taking over. In our garden, I find little or no Japanese Stilt Grass, one of the worst invasives in our yard, in the area where Golden Ragwort grows thickly.
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| Golden Ragwort seeds April 22, 2024 |
What are the downsides of Golden Ragwort? There are always a few downsides, right? Well, this plant does like to seed itself around a bit. It's easy to pull out the seedlings - and they make a great source of new plants to increase your own plantings or to gift to friends - but you will probably find some seedlings around.
Because of its strong growth habits, Golden Ragwort is absolutely capable of overpowering a "shy" or slow-growing plant nearby. I would not, for example, plant it with bloodroot. It does do well, however, with several of the fall asters and other such strong growers.
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| Fading Golden Ragwort blooms juxtaposed with newly opening Viburnum blossoms April 18, 2024 |
The last downside is that this plant's "ugly phase", the time period when it's done blooming, it's forming seeds, and its flower spikes are drying up and turning brown, occurs just as the rest of the garden is swinging into full spring bloom. While that can be a great thing, because the visual focus moves on to other plants, it can also be disconcerting to have "dead blooms" during peak garden bloom time. If neatness is important to you, you can always cut the spent flower stalks off, disposing of them or putting them on a brush pile where birds would still have access to the seeds. The basal rosettes will soon plump up nicely and you'll have a pleasing ground cover for the remainder of the year.
Next comes my favorite part of talking about any native plant - the animal community it belongs to! Not surprisingly, given that there aren't a lot of perennials blooming at this time of year, a lot of pollinators and other insects are drawn to Golden Ragwort. A brief look through the photos I've taken over the last two years shows at least 25 different insect species using this plant - and I know I didn't catch photos of all the insects I saw. Here are a few highlights, chosen to show the variety of insects drawn to Golden Ragwort.....
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| Three-cornered Alfalfa Hopper March 12, 2024 |
Not all insects that use Golden Ragwort are using the flowers. One of the first insects I saw last spring was this Three-cornered Alfalfa Hopper (Spissistilus festinus), a species of treehopper that is known to feed on a wide variety of plants. Treehoppers suck sap to feed, but I saw no sign of any damage to the plant from its feeding actions. This individual probably overwintered as an adult.
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| Syrphid fly March 14, 2024 |
I commonly see syrphid flies of several species feeding at Golden Ragwort blooms or hovering around the plants. I don't know the exact species of this individual, but it's in the genus Syrphus, one of many syrphid fly groups whose larvae are voracious aphid predators. Since this individual is not feeding, it may actually be scouting for a site to lay eggs. A single syrphid fly larva can consume up to 400 aphids as it grows, so these are great "neighbors" to have in your garden. Syrphid flies tend to overwinter as pupae either on plants, in the leaf litter, or in the soil.
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| Syrphid fly laying an egg next to aphids on Golden Ragwort March 15, 2024 |
This syrphid fly, also a Syrphus sp., is almost assuredly laying eggs. I have a sequence of photos of this individual which I love because, if you zoom in really close, you can see several (green) aphids just to the left of the tip of her abdomen. Mom's making sure her babies will have their meals served fresh upon their arrival!
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| Cellophane Bee March 25, 2024 |
This photo just makes me smile. Can you imagine visiting restaurants so replete with food that you end up literally coated with it as you eat? Well, when I phrase it that way, it sounds rather gross...but this bee looks like she's whole-heartedly enjoying her meal. This is a cellophane bee (Collettes sp.), one of the native bees that builds a solitary nest in the ground. Cellophane bees coat the walls of their nests with a polyester secretion to protect their developing young, hence the name cellophane bee.
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| Blueberry Digger Bee March 16, 2024 |
Another native bee I always love to see each spring is the Blueberry Digger Bee (Habropoda laboriosa), a.k.a. the Southeastern Blueberry Bee, which looks like a small bumble bee. This powerhouse ia a buzz pollinator and a specialist in pollinating blueberry blossoms. It may, however, nectar at other flowers, as this one is doing. According to Bugguide, in her adult lifetime, a single female Blueberry Digger Bee may visit around 50,000 blueberry flowers, producing over 6000 blueberries by her actions. These bees only fly for a few weeks in the spring; their adulthood is timed to coincide with the bloom season of blueberries. As is common for many of the solitary bees, there is only one generation each year. Not surprisingly, given their name, this species nests in the ground.
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| Damselfly, March 20, 2024 |
Where flowers attract pollinators and other insects, predators will follow. This damselfly is a good example. Dragonflies and damselflies have excellent eyesight and can be hard to sneak up on to photograph...which is another way of saying that I'm sorry for the poor quality of this photo!
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| Greater Bee Fly March 31, 2023 |
This cute little teddy-bear of an insect is a bee fly, specifically a Greater Bee Fly (Bombylius major). Don't let its cute looks deceive you: bee flies are parasitoids on solitary bee species. The female Greater Bee Fly flicks her eggs into the nest openings of ground-nesting solitary bees or lays her eggs on the flowers she visits. When the eggs hatch, the larvae are mobile and either hitch a ride back to the nest on the female bee, or move into the nest from where the egg was laid near the entrance. Once inside the bee's burrow, the bee fly larvae eat up the stores of pollen and nectar that the mother bee has stored for her larvae, as well as feeding on the bee larvae themselves. The bee fly then pupates in the bee's nest and emerges in the spring. This is an example of one of nature's feedback loops that helps keep species in balance with each other and with plant resources.
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| Path of Phyllocnistis insignis, a leafminer moth, on the upper surface of a Golden Ragwort leaf June 25, 2023 |
You will frequently see the tracery of a leafminer mine on one of the Golden Ragwort leaves. Leafminers, which may be tiny moths, flies, or wasps, are very host specific and are often associated with only one or a few species of plants. Phyllocnistis insignis, a tiny moth with no common name, is the leafminer that uses Golden Ragwort leaves. It does not harm the plant at all. If you look closely at the winter foliage photo near the beginning of this post, you'll also see a leafminer mine on one of the leaves.
Although I'm always tempted to bore folks to tears by showing photos of ALL the insects I've seen using a particular plant, I think I'll close with just one more.
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| Camouflaged Looper April 5, 2024 |
Camouflaged Loopers, the caterpillar of the Wavy-lined Emerald (Synchlora aerata), are common in our yard from spring through fall. They are masters of disguise, covering themselves with bits of petal from the flowers they are eating. The adult moth is a beautiful light green with delicate white markings, although I see the adults much less frequently than I see the caterpillars. While these caterpillars do eat petals, they're relatively small and they do only cosmetic damage. Honestly, I love finding them - I always feel like I've found a little treasure.
Speaking of treasures, that's what I consider Golden Ragwort in my garden.
Where can you find this beauty if you want to add some to your garden? Well, I've never seen it at a standard nursery or big box store, but I do see it regularly at native plant nurseries, native plant sales, and online in the inventory of native plant companies. Because Golden Ragwort reseeds nicely, it may be available at local Master Gardener sales, too. In fact, if you're really lucky, a friend may share some with you...or you may find a clump growing naturally in your yard. That's how I got introduced to this plant here in SE Virginia!
Whether you choose to grow this plant in your garden or to just admire it when you see it growing wild, you'll know what a great native plant those golden blooms are signaling when their sunshiny glow catches your eye.
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