Goldenrod 'Little Lemon'
Solidago 'Dansolitlem' (Little Lemon) · Asteraceae
A dwarf goldenrod, knee high, with dense plumes of soft lemon yellow in late summer.
- Size
- 14 in tall, 16 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early August to mid September
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around goldenrod 'Little Lemon'
The planner designed this bed around goldenrod 'Little Lemon' 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 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why goldenrod 'Little Lemon' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Goldenrod 'Little Lemon' × 3, yellow
- 2 Sea thrift × 8, pink
- 3 Winter heath × 8, white
- 4 Wild quinine × 5, white
- 5 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 6 Blue oat grass × 1, tan
- 7 Schubert's allium × 2, pink
- 8 Star of Persia × 4, purple
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 14 in it is the step between winter heath (10 in) in front and wild quinine (3½ ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- A step in the back row. Next to wild quinine (3½ ft) and blue oat grass (2½ ft): 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 7 weeks. From early August to mid September.
- In company. With wild quinine and brown-eyed Susan in early August: 3 kinds at once.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The back corners are held by wild quinine and brown-eyed Susan, the tallest plants on the plan. When the flowers are over, three kinds, among them sea thrift and winter heath, keep the bed from looking bare.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 7 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 goldenrod 'Little Lemon' goes in a border
At 14 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is short (12 to 18 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
Goldenrod for the front of the border and for pots, in a paler yellow than usual. It stays in a clump and does not seed about.
- Late-summer yellow at the front
- Containers
- Pollinators
What to plant with goldenrod 'Little Lemon'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Aster 'Wood's Purple': purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for three weeks.
- Sedum 'Autumn Fire': in flower together for six weeks, from mid August; bold leaves against its medium ones; tall enough (24 in) to stand behind it.
- Blue fescue: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
Questions about goldenrod 'Little Lemon'
Does goldenrod 'Little Lemon' need sun or shade?
Goldenrod 'Little Lemon' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does goldenrod 'Little Lemon' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °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 goldenrod 'Little Lemon' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early August to mid September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Mid August to mid September |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early August to mid September |
| Zone 6 | Early August to mid September |
| Zone 7 | Early August to mid September |
| Zone 8 | Early August to mid September |
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 goldenrod 'Little Lemon' be planted?
14 in (35 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 16 in (40 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 14 in (35 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many goldenrod 'Little Lemon' plants do I need?
At 14 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 9 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 9 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 28 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 there a native plant like goldenrod 'Little Lemon'?
Goldenrod 'Little Lemon' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Blanket flower 'Goblin': the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers mid June to early October, red, not yellow.
- Tickseed 'Early Sunrise': the same job in a bed and the same colour; 4 in taller, flowers early June to late August.
- Sundrops 'Fireworks': the same job in a bed and the same colour; 4 in taller, flowers early June to mid July.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after goldenrod 'Little Lemon'?
Goldenrod 'Little Lemon' is over by mid September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall.
- October daphne: from mid September to late October, 8 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Meadow saffron: from mid September to mid October, 6 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does goldenrod 'Little Lemon' look like in winter?
Goldenrod 'Little Lemon' 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 Solidago
- Blue-stemmed goldenrod Solidago caesia
- Goldenrod 'Fireworks' Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks'
- Goldenrod 'Golden Fleece' Solidago sphacelata 'Golden Fleece'
- Showy goldenrod Solidago speciosa
- Stiff goldenrod Solidago rigida
- Zigzag goldenrod Solidago flexicaulis
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 14 in (35 cm) tall, 16 in (40 cm) wide
- Plant
- 14 in (35 cm) apart
- Height class
- Short (12 to 18 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Early August to mid September; feathery plumes; yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Asteraceae
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.