Worth knowing:
The Goldenrod is another medicinal plant that is known since the ancient times. The perennial herb with its longish leaves grows between 40 and 100 cm tall. Typically between June and September, it develops the characteristic, numerous, up to 15 mm big, golden yellow-coloured flower heads. Since the plant produces an abundance of nectar, it is quite popular with bees and insects and considered extremely ecological valuable.
Natural Location:
The Goldenrod has its natural habitat from Algeria and Morocco to the whole of Europe and until Japan, while it grows mainly on dry glades and edges of the woods in higher altitudes with temperate climate.
Cultivation:
Seed propagation is rather easy with the Goldenrod and can either be done initially in a bowl indoors, or between April and June by directly planting outdoors in the garden. Goldenrod is a light germinator and the seeds are to be covered only slightly with the potting compost. Keep the earth moist, but not wet. As soon as the seedlings have grown about 10 cm, you may shift them into separate pots or plant them out in late spring with at least 25 cm between the plants. For potting, wide and tall pots with about 30 cm depth are recommended. Later on, vegetative multiplication is possible through cuttings.
Place:
The Goldenrod grows in sunny spots as well as half-shaded places, while the growth height is rather limited with the latter.
Care:
The Goldenrod is quite modest in its water needs - it can endure dryness easily and only wants to be watered additionally during longer dry periods and hot weather. Pot and tub plants, however, should only be watered after the upper 4 cm of the earth have dried out. Weak fertilizing with fluid organic fertilizer is only necessary in tub cultivation and during the blossoming in August. The beginning of blossoming is also the time for harvesting the Goldenrod. The flower heads and the leaves are the parts that come into use. Just cut off the upper 15 cm of the plant and hang them upside down in a shaded place for drying.
During the winter:
The Goldenrod is frost-hard and tolerates even strong frosts. The aerial parts of the plant die off until the end of November and will shoot again in spring.
Picture credits:
- © © Alpsdake - CC0 - http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Alpsdake - CC0 - http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
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