Zizia aurea
Origin: United States and Eastern Canada
Improvement status: Wild
Seeds per packet: ~100
BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED
Wild harvested, Fall 2022
Life cycle: Perennial
Golden alexanders is a charming native perennial in the carrot family with lovely green foliage and pretty yellow Queen-Anne's-lace-like flowers. The leaves and flowers are edible, and the root has a history of medicinal use. It is native across eastern North America, from Quebec to Saskachewan in the north to Florida and Texas in the south.
You'll find golden-yellow flowers are beloved by native pollinators and other beneficial insects, but there is one insect that loves golden alexanders more than all the rest: the "golden alexanders miner bee" (Andrena ziziae), an adorable little native bee that seeks out pollen only from this single species. So, come on, grow some golden alexanders for those picky little bees!
Our seed comes from our friend Dylan Bruce of Circadian Organics in southwestern Wisconsin.
6'hx1'w. Medium Soil. Full-Part Sun. Yellow bloom April-June. Important nectary, carrot family plant. Fall seed.
Our seed was wild foraged by our friends Dylan Bruce and his partner Skye, down in the Driftless in SW Wisconsin near Viroqua.
GROWING TIPS: Seeds germinate best after a 60 day period of cold/moist stratification. Really, it's best to sow this seed in the fall so it goes through its natural cycle. But you can also get seeds moist and put in the fridge prior to spring planting. Germinates best in cool soils, after stratification!
