Rand’s Goldenrod: A Native Perennial Worth Considering
If you’re looking to add some native charm to your garden, Rand’s goldenrod (Solidago simplex randii) might just be the plant you’ve been searching for. This lesser-known member of the goldenrod family brings the classic appeal of native wildflowers to your landscape, though admittedly, it’s not the most well-documented plant in the gardening world.
What Makes Rand’s Goldenrod Special?
Rand’s goldenrod is a true native, calling both Canada and the lower 48 United States home. As a perennial forb, it’s the kind of plant that comes back year after year without the woody stems of shrubs or trees. Think of it as nature’s own herbaceous comeback artist – it dies back in winter but emerges fresh each spring from buds at or below ground level.
Where Does It Grow Naturally?
This goldenrod has quite the impressive natural range, stretching across numerous states and provinces. You’ll find it growing wild from the Maritime provinces of Canada (New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) through Ontario and Quebec, and down into a substantial portion of the eastern and midwestern United States. Its range includes the District of Columbia and extends through states like Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Should You Plant Rand’s Goldenrod?
Here’s where things get a bit tricky – and honestly refreshing in our age of information overload. Rand’s goldenrod is something of a gardening mystery plant. While we know it’s native and perennial, specific details about its growing requirements, size, and garden performance are surprisingly scarce in readily available literature.
What we can say is that as a native plant, it’s likely to:
- Support local ecosystems better than non-native alternatives
- Be adapted to regional climate conditions
- Require less intensive care once established
- Potentially provide benefits to native wildlife and pollinators
The Growing Challenge
If you’re the adventurous type who enjoys gardening mysteries, Rand’s goldenrod could be your next project. However, the lack of readily available growing information means you’ll be somewhat experimenting. Here’s what we’d generally expect from a goldenrod relative:
- Preference for full sun to partial shade
- Tolerance for average to poor soils
- Moderate water needs once established
- Late summer to fall flowering period
A Word of Caution (And Excitement)
The scarcity of information about this particular plant could mean a few things: it might be quite rare, it could be a regional variant that’s not widely cultivated, or it might be known by other names in different regions. If you’re determined to grow it, we’d strongly recommend sourcing it from reputable native plant nurseries and ensuring any plant material is responsibly sourced.
Alternative Options
If you’re attracted to the idea of goldenrods but want something with more established growing information, consider looking into other Solidago species native to your area. Many goldenrods offer similar benefits with more readily available cultivation guidance.
The Bottom Line
Rand’s goldenrod represents the intriguing side of native gardening – plants that exist in our natural landscapes but haven’t yet made it big in the horticultural world. If you can find it and want to try something genuinely unusual in your native plant garden, it could be a rewarding challenge. Just be prepared for some trial and error along the way!
