Verbesina occidentalis (Southern Crownbeard)

Description

4′-5′ Tall Native clumping perennial. Large yellow inflorescences attract nectar seekers in fall. Seeds are utilized by birds. Sun or part-shade. Fairly dry to fairly wet soil. Hoar-frost extrudes from stems in winter. Extremely reliable. Deer-resistant.

This extremely resilient native perennial is covered with large yellow inflorescences from August until frost. A pollinator magnetit attract Butterflies, Skippers, Moths, Bees, Soldier Beetles, and Hummingbirds Pollinator Ecologist rate it especially important to Beneficial Insects, Honeybees and Native Bees. Besides being a food source Native Bees also build nests in the dried stems.  Since soldier beetles are beneficial insects, Verbesina makes a great companion plant to other plants in your garden.  is a larval host of the widesperead Silvery Checkespot and the more western Bordered Patch Butterflies as well as Several Moths, a Sawfly, and a Seed-Feeding Fly. It may be the only larval host   The adults of these insects are also Pollinators.    Mother birds hunt for insects on the plants to feed their young. Birds also feed on the seeds.In the winter, frost followers are formed at the base of the plants. Native Americans dried and smoked the leaves. It was also used medicinally as a diuretic and to dissolve kidney stones.

Unpruned plants grow from 3-8 feet tall  To keep them shorter, and blooming longer, periodically cut the tallest stems to the crown during the growing season. I have had them bloom at 2.5″ tall by this technique. In my area, the plants will still bloom even when cut back as late as November.  Plant in sun or part shade. Very drought tolerant it is normally found in very well-drained soils. However, it will also tolerate short term soil saturation. in average to dry soil. Highly deer resistant, they can be used as deer baffles to protect tastier plants. They trive in but do not need high calclium soils.  Native to: AL, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, KY, MD, MO, MS, NC, OH’ OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, and WV. We propagated our plants from native populations in Beaufort Co., SC