Golden Alexanders
Zizia aurea · Apiaceae
Flat, lacy heads of small yellow flowers in late spring, like a yellow Queen Anne's lace. A native member of the carrot family, and a food plant of black swallowtail butterflies.
- Size
- 2½ ft tall, 20 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Early May to mid June
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around golden Alexanders
The planner designed this bed around golden Alexanders when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why golden Alexanders stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Golden Alexanders × 3, yellow
- 2 Leadwort × 11, blue
- 3 Blue moor grass × 9, purple
- 4 Showy goldenrod × 3, yellow
- 5 Wild quinine × 3, white
- 6 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 7 Schubert's allium × 3, pink
Why this plant
- Nothing here is unique to it. Its leaf, flower shape and colour are all on the plan already. Its case rests on where it stands and when it performs.
Why here
- In the middle. At 2½ ft it is the step between leadwort (10 in) in front and showy goldenrod (4 ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- 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 May to mid June.
- Fills a gap. For one of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as a cottage garden: 30 of the 30 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. Cool colours (blue, purple and pink) with yellow as the warm note, and white to calm things between them. Blue moor grass and leadwort finish the front edge.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. 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 golden Alexanders 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 (24 in to 2½ ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
It fills the gap between the spring wildflowers and the summer prairie plants. Each plant lives only a few years, and seeds itself to keep the patch going.
- Late-spring colour in a native planting
- Rain gardens and moist meadows
- Butterfly gardens
What to plant with golden Alexanders
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Wild geranium: in flower together for four weeks, from early May; happy in the same moist soil.
- Bluestar: blue against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for five weeks.
- Blue flag iris: blue against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for three weeks.
Questions about golden Alexanders
Does golden Alexanders need sun or shade?
Golden Alexanders 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 soil that stays evenly moist, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does golden Alexanders grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 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 golden Alexanders flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early May to mid June. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Late May to late June |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Mid May to late June |
| Zone 5 | Early May to mid June |
| Zone 6 | Early May to mid June |
| Zone 7 | Late April to early June |
| Zone 8 | Mid April to early June |
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 golden Alexanders be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 20 in (50 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 2½ ft (70 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many golden Alexanders plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 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 golden Alexanders poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat golden Alexanders?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
Will golden Alexanders spread?
It seeds itself about; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Short-lived, but keeps going by self-seeding. Thin or move seedlings where they are not wanted.
What flowers after golden Alexanders?
Golden Alexanders is over by mid June. 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.
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall.
- Yarrow: from mid June to late August, 24 in tall.
What does golden Alexanders look like in winter?
Golden Alexanders 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.
Is golden Alexanders good for bees and butterflies?
Golden Alexanders is visited by pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies and beneficial insects.
It is a host plant: the caterpillars of black swallowtail feed on its leaves. A butterfly can only lay its eggs on its host plants, so these do more for it than any nectar flower.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
In these guides
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 2½ ft (70 cm) tall, 20 in (50 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium (24 in to 2½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Early May to mid June; flat plates; yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Apiaceae
- Comes from
- Eastern North America
- Attracts
- Pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies, beneficial insects
- Host plant for
- Black swallowtail
- Stands up to
- Drought
Checked against NC State Extension. 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.