Globeflower

Globeflower Trollius

Globeflower Overview

Description Like buttercups on steroids, globeflowers are stunning massed beside lakes, ponds, and streams. Elsewhere, they are perfectly suited to rain gardens and boggy areas, and they make a good showing in borders where soil does not dry out. After bloom time, cut the plants back by half to encourage further blooms. Globeflowers are easy to grow and produce a wealth of blossoms in late spring and early summer. These flowers hold up well on the plant or in a vase if you cut them and bring them inside. In addition to their good looks, globeflowers are also valuable for providing food for hungry pollinators, including bees and butterflies.
Genus Name Trollius spp.
Common Name Globeflower
Plant Type Perennial
Light Part Sun, Sun
Height 1 to 3 feet
Width 2 to 3 feet
Flower Color Yellow
Foliage Color Blue/Green
Season Features Spring Bloom
Special Features Cut Flowers, Good for Containers, Low Maintenance
Zones 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Propagation Division, Seed

Planting Globeflower

Enjoy globeflowers in the middle or the back of garden beds and borders where their golden yellow springtime blooms shine in the sun. The bright color catches the eye, making them a good choice for planting both near your house, where you can enjoy them up close, and at a distance.

In addition to planting en masse, you can also use them strategically to contrast other perennials, including lavender-blue perennial geraniums, purple Siberian iris, spiderwort, and grassy-looking sedges.

If you have large pots to plant them in, you can also enjoy charming globeflowers in containers.

Globeflower Care

If there's one thing you need to know before you plant globeflowers, it's that these charmers need moist soil to thrive. Be sure to plant them in a spot that has moist or even wet soil, including bogs, ditches, rain gardens, and along the edges of ponds and water gardens.

Different globeflower varieties have different sun requirements, so be sure to do your research before planting. Shade-loving types will melt in the hot summer sun. Sun-loving types can tolerate partial shade, especially if they're in soil that tends to dry out a little during the summer.

Like most perennials, all globeflowers appreciate a good layer of mulch over their roots during the growing season. It's best to spread a good 2 to 3 inches of an organic mulch (such as shredded wood, pine needles, or cocoa hulls) around them after the soil warms in spring.

Most globeflowers are native to areas of Europe that experience cold winters and cool summers. As such, globeflowers aren't well suited to hot, humid gardens in Southern regions, or dry Western areas. If you're in an area with hot summers, or the plants start to decline after unseasonably hot weather, cut the foliage back after they finish blooming.

New Innovations

Though there aren't many new varieties of globeflower coming out, some plant breeders are working with the plant to increase its season of bloom and make it more durable, especially to heat and dry soil.

More Varieties of Globeflower

Plant Globeflower With:

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