How to Grow and Care for Golden Alexander

Golden alexander (Zizia aurea) is an early-blooming native wildflower found across eastern North America. This short-lived perennial belongs to the carrot family and has the look of a meadow wildflower, much like Queen Anne's lace, which is also a wild carrot. It has well-formed branches with sturdy stems and serrated green leaves and bears a bright yellow flat-topped flower umbel attractive to birds and butterflies during its May to June bloom time. The showy starburst shape of the tiny flowers makes an attractive feature in the landscape.

Golden alexander is native to parts of Canada including Quebec and Saskatchewan, the New England States, and along the Atlantic Coast as far south as Florida. It's a desirable plant for helping conserve meadows and wetlands, and for general habitat rehabilitation, and it may be commercially available from nurseries that specialize in native plants.

If planting seeds outdoors, do so in spring, fall, or even early winter to enjoy the plant's carefree rapid growth and height of 1 to 2 feet. In late summer it forms oblong-shaped green fruit capsules which gradually turn purple as autumn approaches, as do the stems and leaves.

Golden Alexander Care

Here are the main care requirements for growing golden alexander:

• Plant in well-draining, rich soil with partial to full sun exposure.
• Golden alexander can tolerate dry conditions, however, it is best to water it regularly during the growing season.
• Enjoys moist growing conditions, but can also be found in abandoned fields, overgrown urban lots, meadows, savannas, and thickets.
  

Light

Golden alexander grows best in full or partial sun. It has been known to also survive under light shade tree canopies.

Soil

Golden alexander likes a somewhat rich neutral soil with good drainage but can still do well in sandy or clay soils, or in areas with a lot of limestone where the soil is slightly, but not too, alkaline.

Water

Although golden alexander prefers consistent moisture (often growing naturally in boggy sites), it can also handle dry conditions surprisingly well. For best results, make sure your plants are kept consistently moist during the growing season.

Temperature and Humidity

This plant enjoys somewhat moist growing conditions, such as a boggy meadow or a pond, but it's also fairly drought tolerant during a hot summer in its native habitats.

Fertilizer

Fertilization is unnecessary for wildflowers such as golden alexander. Adding fertilizer may make wildflowers leggy and weedy.

Pruning

Golden alexander does not require much pruning. Simply trim the stems at the base clump after the plant has flowered. You can also remove any unwanted seedlings while they are small.

Propagating Golden Alexander

In most cases, this plant is not intentionally propagated, as it occurs naturally as a native perennial and naturalizes readily in suitable conditions.

But if you want to increase your supply, golden alexander can be propagated by division in early spring.

1. Dig the plant's roots out of the ground and divide it into several sections, each with few stems and healthy roots.
2. Replant the divisions at the same depth as the parent plant.
3. Water well and regularly until established.

How to Grow Golden Alexander From Seed

Growing golden alexander from seed is rather difficult as these plants are not widely available commercially. You may be lucky to find seeds from a specialist native plant nursery.

You could gather the seeds in the wild to plant, but care should be taken not to disturb or deplete the growing area. Clip off seed heads in the late summer and early fall when you see them.

The seeds need a period of two to three months of cold stratification to be viable for spring planting so winter sowing is best. It's also possible to plant the unstratified seeds in the fall, but there's some risk they won't germinate as effectively. Typically the plant does not bloom in its first season from seed but will begin to flower in its second season.

To start the seeds indoors, follow these steps.

1. About 5 weeks before nightime temperatures are reliably above 50 degrees F, mix seed with moistened potting mix in a plastic bag.
2. Place the bag in a refrigerator for one week, then move to freezer for a week. Repeat this pattern for several weeks.
3. Plant the seeds about 1/8-inch deep in pots of moistened potting mix.
4. Place on a heat mat or warm location and keep the soil moist during germination. Plants are ready to transplant outdoors when sturdy stems are at least 2 inches tall and danger of frost has passed..

Potting and Repotting Golden Alexander

Golden alexander makes an attractive addition to a container garden. The plant's medium texture can be balanced with finer and coarser textured plants surrounding it in a pot. Plant in any type of container with drainage holes and filled with fresh potting soil.

When the plant outgrows its pot, transplant it to a new container that's about 2 inches wider. Fill it with fresh potting soil before tranferring the plant to its new home. Water regularly until well established.

Overwintering

Simply cut back golden alexander to just above its crown in the fall before the winter. This can be done if planted in a pot or ground. Goldealexander will revive itself in the springtime.

Common Pests

Golden alexander is fairly free of problems from pests and is also relatively deer-resistant. Aphids seem to be the only insects that bothergolden alexander plants but they can be sprayed off with water. However, because these plants tend to bolt with reduced summer foliage, it doesn't attract problems.

Though not pests, pollinating insects attracted to golden alexander include various butterflies, bees, wasps, beetles, and flies, who prefer flat-headed flowers because their shorter mouthparts make it harder for them to sip nectar as, say, hummingbirds do.

From: thespruce