Golden alexanders
Zizia aurea (L.) W.D.J.Koch
Also called golden alexanders.
Early native carrot-family perennial with flat yellow umbels in late spring that feed short-tongued bees and flies. A host plant for black swallowtail caterpillars and a bridge between spring ephemerals and summer bloom.
Size over time
Typical landscape size 0.3–0.8 m (12–30 in) tall and 0.3–0.5 m (12–18 in) wide; medium growth, about 3 years to maturity. Intermediate sizes use the planner’s growth curve (k = 0.25) from the #1 install size.
Bloom
Yellow flowers, May–Jun (northern-hemisphere months; timing shifts with region and season).
| Plant | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden alexanders : May–Jun |
Design notes
- Short-lived but reseeds; let a few seedheads ripen to keep a colony going.
- Expect swallowtail caterpillars to chew foliage — that is the point; plant enough to share.
Regions
Native range: Eastern and central North America.
Native to these OpenLandscape3D pilot regions:
Native status describes where the species occurs naturally. It is not a promise that it suits a particular garden; site conditions decide that.
In the guides
Golden alexanders comes up in this guide:
Related plants
Try Golden alexanders in a plan
Opens your own copy of a finished sample garden in the planner with Golden alexanders ready to place; the planner checks it against that garden’s zone, light and moisture.
Plan with Golden alexanders
Place it in a design, check it against your zone, light and moisture, and see it at year three and year ten.