Another Wonderful Groundcover - Golden Groundsel, Packera species

In April of last year, I profiled one of my favorite groundcovers - Robin's plantain (Erigeron pulchellus).

Well, here's another beauty - golden groundsel.

There's just one problem, I've ordered and planted two species of golden groundsel (they have the same common name) - Packera aurea and Packera obovata.

And I can't tell them apart in my garden. Or perhaps only one species survived? Don't know. But whichever I've got, it's doing lovely, especially on the shady northern foundation next to an arrowwood viburnum, but also in the far back bed where it gets full sun pretty much all day.

Versatile? You bet.

Beautiful? Yep.

I missed taking a pic of the yellow blooms for this post, but I still got the fluffy seedheads and the lovely foliage.

It's more or less evergreen here, though it can get tattered in a harsh winter like the one we just hand. So far) the old foliage seems to decay naturally and unobtrusively, never building up into an unwieldy mush (as with lamb's ears) or hanging on in a frazzled way (as with say cranesbill geraniums).

The yellow flowers attract little pollinators, and the white seedheads that follow are fluffy and charming. It mostly spreads by underground rhizomes, though occasionally I think I've found a seedling or two nearby to the parent plant. It does tolerate transplantation, although it tends to sulk for a while as it gets established.

In my heavy soil, it has spread by a measured pace so far. You can take a look back at this April 2017 post to see just how much ground it has covered in the last 16 months or so.

I do worry that it will be harder to control in the long run. Where it's relatively easy to uproot Robin's plantain, I tried digging up Packera in a couple places where I thought it was not growing so well only to find that I missed root particles that came back stronger than ever. So consider that a bit of a warning.

On the other hand, I don't think I'd mind having a lot of Packera in my landscape. It's certainly low growing enough that I don't think it would compete with bushes, shrubs or even taller, sturdier, deep-rooted perennials like Baptisia or Solidago. But I'm not sure. It will be interesting to see what happens as it starts to bump up against lawn grasses and/or other groundcovers like Erigeron.

For now, it would be one of my top groundcover suggestions to anyone gardening within the native range of the lovely golden groundsels.

Some June highlights - oakleaf hydrangea, black-eyed Susan, daikon radish, golden groundsel, anise hyssop and Carefree Beauty

Oak leaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) panicle fading to pink

Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan), first time growing this native wildflower

Super impressed with the ability of daikon radish (Raphanus sativus) to form substantial roots on my solid clay soil. Many of the daikons are bolting now - making surprisingly beautiful lavender flower spikes that attract pollinators. Pollinated flowers then turn into edible seed pods!

In my continuing search for native groundcover candidates, I think golden groundsel (Packera obovata) is a keeper. This beauty is evergreen in winter and had pretty yellow flower spikes earlier in the season. 

In my experience, Agastache foeniculum (anise hyssop) is one of the best perennials for attracting both pollinators (to the flowers) and birds (for the seeds). It's a beautiful plant to boot and self-sows moderately to provide a nice amount of new seedlings over time. It can look a bit tired in the heat of summer and I haven't tried growing it in all-day blazing sun, but overall it does amazingly well here in shade or partial sun (either morning or afternoon), especially considering this plant is native to Canada and the northern Plains (Montana to Wisconsin)!

After some pruning, Carefree Beauty rose is blooming again.

Good native groundcovers - Robin's plantain and golden groundsel

I've trialed a lot of groundcovers and made a lot of mistakes over the past 6 years in my efforts to find that magical plant that will cover ground and suppress weeds, but not be too aggressive/invasive or too much work to maintain.

Here are two promising evergreen / semi-evergreen candidates that have performed well so far. The fact that they are both native to this part of Tennessee is a big bonus.

Packera obovata, golden groundsel, fully evergreen through this past (relatively mild) winter. 
(I tried growing another Packera - P. aurea - last year, but it did not seem as tolerant of heat and drought, even in partial shade, as P. obovata.)

Erigeron pulchellus, Robin's plantain As you can see, the Robin's plantain gets a bit more tattered over the winter compared to the golden groundsel. Still, in my experience over the past few years, the old foliage tends to decay naturally without any intervention on my part, and the plants will look much better soon as new foliage appears. (Yes, the flower head here looks a little strange...a bit like a conjoined twin. That's not the normal flower appearance, as you can see below, but it's not that uncommon either with Robin's plantain.)

I think golden groundsel needs partial to full shade in hot summer climates like Tennessee, and Robin's plantain also thrives in some shade, but I'd like to try it in sunnier spots too to see how it performs. It's relatively easy to divide and transplant Robin's plantain in early spring or early autumn, but I've learned the hard way that divisions are unlikely to survive if you wait too long in either season.

Class of 2016 -- Packera aurea, Senecio aureus, golden groundsel

Packera aurea, golden groundsel

Why I'm growing Packera aurea in my garden...

1) It is native to Tennessee and throughout much of the Eastern and Central U.S.

2) Mt. Cuba Center recommends it as an effective, evergreen groundcover for shady spots. I'm always on the lookout for good groundcovers, especially natives.

3) The Indiana Native Plant & Wildflower Society notes that golden groundsel is a host plant for the gem moth (Orthonama obstipata).

4) Scott Woodbury, Curator of the Whitmire Wildflower Garden at Missouri Botanical Garden recommends this species, promoting it as an alternative to invasive exotic groundcovers including ivy, periwinkle and wintercreeper. He says the showy spring flowers attract tons of pollinators. Woodbury notes that Packera aurea rarely self-sows, but he says it does spread vigorously by underground rhizomes and can form a solid groundcover in a couple of years if planted on 12 to 18-inch centers.

5) Audobon at Home calls it resistant to deer browsing. (Perhaps it gets this resistance due to the presence of pyrrolizidne alkaloids that can cause liver damage in people if taken internally.)

Do you grow golden groundsel? If so, what has been your experience with this plant?