Species Native to Missouri
Common Name: golden ragwort
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Asteraceae
Native Range: Eastern North America to Texas
Zone: 3 to 8
Height: 0.50 to 2.50 feet
Spread: 0.50 to 1.50 feet
Bloom Time: April
Bloom Description: Yellow
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium to wet
Maintenance: Medium
Suggested Use: Ground Cover, Naturalize, Rain Garden
Flower: Showy
Attracts: Butterflies
Tolerate: Wet Soil
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium to wet soils in full sun to part shade. Blooms well in shady locations. Soils should not be allowed to dry out. Freely self-seeds and is easily grown from seed. Naturalizes into large colonies in optimum growing conditions. Remove flowering stems after bloom/seed dispersal. Basal foliage will serve as an attractive ground cover throughout the growing season as long as consistent moisture is provided. Basal foliage will be evergreen to semi-evergreen in climates at the warmer end of its hardiness range (generally Zones 6-8).
Noteworthy Characteristics
Packera aurea, commonly called golden ragwort or golden groundsel, is a rhizomatous, spreading, herbaceous perennial native to moist woods, meadows, gravel bars, and stream banks in the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. Features flat-topped clusters (corymbs) of yellow, daisy-like flowers (to 1" diameter) atop sparsely-leaved stems in early spring. The blooms are attractive to butterflies, bees, and other insect pollinators. Oblong stem leaves are finely cut (pinnately lobed) and quite distinctive. Flowering stems typically rise 1-2' tall from basal clumps of long-stemmed, heart-shaped, toothed, dark green leaves that often have a purplish tinge beneath. The foliage is one of the few larval food sources for the northern metalmark butterfly. Synonymous with Senecio aureus.
Genus name honors 20th century North American botanist John G. Packer.
The specific epithet aurea means "golden yellow" in reference to the flower color.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Uses
Ground cover for moist, shady areas. Large naturalized plantings in woodland gardens can be spectacular in bloom. Also effective in bog gardens, rain gardens, along streams or ponds, cottage gardens, native plant gardens or borders.