Green and Gold

Description

Botanical Name:  Chrysogonum virginianum

Common Name:  Green and Gold

Description:  What a cool Florida native groundcover plant for that part sun to part shade area of your garden this is!

Green and Gold is a low growing native perennial with starry golden daisy-like flowers on very hairy stems. This diminutive beauty has pubescent oval shaped gray-green or medium green leaves.  Blooms are borne in great numbers in late spring and sporadically after. This is a great native groundcover with semi-evergreen foliage and a long blooming period. Easily grown in moist, well drained, acidic, organically rich soils in sun-dappled part shade. Spreads by rhizomes to form an attractive ground cover, but is easily controlled.  Easily grown from seed and may self-seed in the garden. The foliage grows up to 3-4″ tall, with the blooms adding another 8-10″. It spreads about 18″ wide. Has a moderate to rapid growth rate.

It is indigenous to mesic to dry woodlands and open rocky woodlands.  This species is more likely to be found in forest edges and clearings with bright filtered light rather than in densely shaded interiors.

It is drought tolerant and resistant to pests. They may suffer from fungus diseases if soil is poorly drained or mulch is too thick.

Its flowers are attractive to bees and butterflies. The seeds are eaten by songbirds. Deer and rabbit resistant.

This plant in 1-gallon containers has a spread of 5 – 8″.

Plant Lore: Genus name comes from the Greek words chrysos meaning gold and gonu meaning joint in reference to the location of the flower stems at the leaf axils (stem joints). It is the only species in this genus.