An upright perennial with attractive green, divided and serrated leathery leaves, Zizia aurea has long been popular for its showy yellow flowers. These form 3" to 4" terminal umbels that cluster together to create and impressive display that will last for several weeks. Their timing in late spring into early summer provides a burst of color in the seasonal transition when few other perennials are in flower.. The seeds and foliage turn purplish in fall, adding late season interest to the garden. Low maintenance and easy to grow, golden Alexanders is an excellent choice for a cottage garden, perennial border, or underneath the outer edges of native tree canopies.
Zizia aurea thrives in full to part sun, but will handle some shade under an open canopy. In hotter climates, it appreciates protection from afternoon sun. Moist, well-drained soil is best; however, it is well adapted to wet conditions and dry conditions (so long as it receives enough moisture early in the growing season).
Space plants 12"-18" on center.
Individual plants can be short lived, but golden Alexanders will spread via seed to forms colonies and will naturalize under optimal conditions.
Zizia aurea combines well with other low-growing garden plants, especially when planting in mixed sun-shade conditions. Try it with Geranium maculatum (spotted geranium), Conoclinium coelestinum (blue mistflower), Polemonium reptans (Jacob's ladder), Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern), Gillenia stipulata (American ipecac), Heuchera americana (American alumroot), Mitella diphylla (two-leaf miterwort), Silene stellata (starry campion), Thalictrum dioicum (early meadow-rue), or Aquilegia canadensis (American columbine). Include sedges and grasses such as Deschampsia cespitosa (tufted hairgrass), Carex sprengelii (long-beaked sedge), Carex radiata (eastern star sedge), Carex laxiculmis (spreading sedge) or its cultivar 'Hobb' (Bunny Blue® sedge), Carex socialis (low woodland sedge), and Carex radiata (eastern star sedge).
Zizia aurea is a member of the Carrot family (Apiaceae), and both seeds and leaves contain aromatic oils. Members of this family are host plants for butterflies, and golden Alexanders hosts several species of Swallowtails. Its flat-topped umbels are popular with pollinators, including bees, wasps, flies, and beetles. It's been used traditionally as a headache remedy by members of the Meskwaki Nation. The common name, golden Alexanders, likely comes from its resemblance to the species commonly known as "Alexanders" (Smyrnium olusatrum), another member of the carrot family found in coastal Europe and Northern Africa.
$25 off orders of $500 or more
$50 off orders of $750 or more
$100 off orders of $1,000 or more
$300 off orders of $2,000 or more
15% off orders of $3,000 or more
Would you like your plants shipped later? You may choose to do so in the shopping cart.
Note: Early spring shipments might include plants that have not yet broken dormancy, or have not been vernalized and will be frost-tender. Please use your best judgment when selecting your preferred ship week.
Did you know? When plants are available from multiple growers, we list growers closest to your location first.
Why choose plants from the nearest grower? Choosing a the grower closest to you makes it more likely the plants are consistent with your ecoregion and better adapted to your location. In addition, shipping plants shorter distances typically uses fewer resources, something we can all get behind!
Recorded County Distribution: USDA data.
AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV, FL, LA, MT, TX |
Special Concern | RI |
Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain | FAC |
Eastern Mountains and Piedmont | FAC |
Great Plains | FAC |
Midwest | FAC |
Northcentral and Northeast | FAC |
Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast | FAC |
MAP OF WETLAND DELINEATION REGIONS
Code |
Status |
Designation |
Comment |
OBL |
Obligate Wetland |
Hydrophyte |
Almost always occur in wetlands |
FACW |
Facultative Wetland |
Hydrophyte |
Usually occur in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands |
FAC |
Facultative |
Hydrophyte |
Occur in wetlands and non-wetlands |
FACU |
Facultative Upland |
Nonhydrophyte |
Usually occur in non-wetlands, but may occur in wetlands |
UPL |
Obligate Upland |
Nonhydrophyte |
Almost never occur in wetlands |
Kingdom | Plantae | Plants |
Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants |
Superdivision | Spermatophyta | Seed plants |
Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants |
Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons |
Subclass | Rosidae | |
Order | Apiales | |
Family | Apiaceae | Carrot family |
Genus | Zizia | zizia |
Species | Zizia aurea | golden Alexanders |
golden Alexanders, golden zizia
Sizes info
Shipping is free on all plants orders!
Your plants will ship using each grower’s preferred method: FedEx Ground, UPS Ground, or Spee-Dee Ground (in select midwestern states). Our growers ship orders Monday through Wednesday. The farther your plants need to travel, the earlier in the week they will ship. The goal is to have all plants delivered by the end of the week.
Shipping plugs:
Plugs are shipped in full flats, sometimes also referred to as trays. Multiple flats can be shipped in a single box. The flats are wrapped in netting or craft paper to secure the plants, and spacers are used between flats to keep the plants from being crushed.
When you unpack your plugs, the plants will have been somewhat flattened by the netting or craft paper. They will straighten out within a couple of days. You may also gently “fluff” them a bit to speed up the process. In some cases, your plants might have been cut back before packing, if the grower deemed them to have become too tall for safe packaging. Don’t worry, though, these guys know what they’re doing and would not compromise the health of the plants. They’ll fill back in in no time.
After receiving your plants’ journey in a dark box, it will be important to acclimate them to sunlight again. Over a couple of days, you should gradually move them into their preferred light exposure, and water them as per their requirement.
Although we always recommend putting your plants in the ground as soon as possible, they can stay healthy in the flats for a considerable amount of time. The key is to respect their growing requirements: if the species requires full sun, do not store them in the shade. If it is best adapted to dry soil, do not over-water.
Planting plugs:
We consider plugs ready to ship when the plants’ roots have filled the entire liner cell and the plants can easily be pulled out. In some cases you will have to go about it gently, wiggling the plant by the crown, and possibly squeezing the bottom of the liner to compress the growing medium and release the roots. Other times, the plants will appear to be root bound. They are not in the traditional sense. The plants are healthy but they have used up all the growing medium available to them. Plugs are at an aggressive stage of growth. As soon as planted the roots will immediately expand into your native soil. They establish faster than plants in larger containers, because they don’t have the luxury of a lot of growing media that can inhibit the roots from venturing outside of their comfort zone.
We are not going to address area preparation because the process can be complex and is always site-specific. However, as a rule, we recommend disturbing the soil as little as possible, and we do not recommend amending the soil. If you chose the right plant for the right conditions they will thrive. Any disturbance and amendments will only encourage weeds to emerge that never had a chance to do so before.
Installing plugs cannot be easier: dig a hole large enough for the roots to fit snugly inside, then water them in to eliminate air gaps. We recommend using a soil knife, sometimes referred to as hori hori, or a drill-adapted auger if it’s a large installation. If you use an auger, you will need a powerful drill. Depending on the size of the project and the type of soil, the process can be beyond what an average drill will bear. Mulching is recommended after installation to help keep weeds down while the plants establish. Be sure to keep it away from the crown of the plants. For large projects, you may want to mulch the area before planting, rather than tiptoeing through it after the fact. As a side note: if you are installing plugs in the fall, you might want to plant them so that the crown is about ¾” lower than the surrounding soil. The winter’s freeze/thaw cycles can push plugs out if the roots did not have enough time to establish and anchor them in.