Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen'
Trollius chinensis 'Golden Queen' ·
Open bowls of glowing orange, each with a crown of upright, narrow petals at the centre, on tall stems in early summer.
- Size
- 2½ ft tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Early June to mid July
- Pets
- Toxic (mild)
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen'
The planner designed this bed around Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 251 that suit those conditions and its wet soil, and says below why Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' × 3, orange
- 2 Lingonberry × 8, pink
- 3 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 19, yellow
- 4 Garden phlox 'David' × 3, white
- 5 Globe arborvitae 'Danica' × 1, green leaves
- 6 Bottle gentian × 8, blue
- 7 Checkered lily × 12, purple
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are bells, daisies and dense clusters. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only orange.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 2½ ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to bottle gentian (20 in): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From early June to mid July.
- Fills a gap. For three of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 8 groups (88%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is tied together by its repeats: three kinds come round again along it, among them mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' and lingonberry. The front edge is finished with mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' and lingonberry.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 5 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' goes in a border
At 2½ ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
It flowers after the other globeflowers and in a richer colour. It must have damp soil. Orange beside the blue of Siberian irises is a classic pond-side picture.
- Orange for a damp border
- Pond and stream sides
- Partnering with blue irises
What to plant with Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Siberian iris: blue against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for three weeks.
- Japanese primrose: in flower together for three weeks, from early June; bold leaves against its medium ones; happy in the same wet soil.
- Marsh marigold: flowers first, mid April to early May, so the spot is never empty; low enough (16 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same wet soil.
Questions about Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen'
Does Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' need sun or shade?
Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants moist to wet soil, rich in organic matter, and plenty of water.
What zones does Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 7. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 7 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early June to mid July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Mid June to mid July |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Mid June to mid July |
| Zone 5 | Early June to mid July |
| Zone 6 | Early June to mid July |
| Zone 7 | Late May to early July |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' be planted?
16 in (40 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 2½ ft (80 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' plants do I need?
At 16 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 7 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 8 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 21 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: mild toxicity to people, dogs, cats and horses. The sap can irritate skin, and all parts cause stomach upset if eaten.
Is there a pet-safe plant like Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen'?
These come closest to doing what Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Globeflower: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers mid May to late June, wants moist soil.
- Golden Alexanders: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers early May to mid June, yellow, not orange.
- White turtlehead: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers early August to mid September, white, not orange.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen'?
Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' is over by mid July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Bee balm: from early July to early August, 3 ft tall.
What does Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' look like in winter?
Chinese globeflower 'Golden Queen' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Trollius
- Globeflower Trollius x cultorum
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 2½ ft (80 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 16 in (40 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Early June to mid July; open bowls; orange
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Rich, moist to wet
- Water
- High
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.