Native Plants for Any Garden

Here is the list of plants we recommend as part of our Native Plants for Any Garden presentation. These are all plants that are native to southern Wisconsin and are commercially available. They are also species that are showy and tidy. There are several "bonus species" on these lists that are not included in the presentation due to time constraints.

Designator Key:

D = Prefer dry soils.
E = Spring Ephemeral: Will not tolerate “hard shade” of buildings or evergreens.
G = Groundcover.
J = Juglone tolerant. Can be planted under walnut.
W = Suitable for rain gardens wet spots, or clay soils.

Full Sun-- Over 8 hours of direct sunlight

prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)
little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
side-oats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) D
June grass (Koeleria macrantha)
nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum)
butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) D
harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) D
Purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea)
pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida)
prairie spurge (Euphorbia corollata)
wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) G
bottle gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) W
rough blazing star (Liatris aspera)
great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) W
Balsam ragwort (Packera pauperacula) G
prairie phlox (Phlox pilosa) D
Riddell's goldenrod (Solidago riddellii) W
silky aster (Symphyotrichum sericeum)
aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium)
flax leaved aster (Ionactis linariifolia) D
common spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis)

Part Shade-- 4-8 hours of direct sunlight

Springell's sedge (Carex sprengellii) J
ivory sedge (Carex eburnea) G J
Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica) G J
rosy sedge (Carex rosea) G J
Gray's sedge (Carex grayi) W J
bottlebrush grass (Elymus histrix) J
nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum) J
downy wood mint (Blephilia ciliata) J
American bellflower (Campanula americana) J
eastern shooting star (Dodecatheon meadia) D
big leaf aster (Eurybia macrophylla) D G J
woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) G
wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) J
blue flag iris (Iris virginica) W
great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)
Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) E
woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata) E
Jacob's ladder (Polemonium reptans) W J
elm-leaved goldenrod (Solidago ulmifolia) J
heart-leaved (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) J
Short's aster (Symphyotrichum shortii) J
arrow-leaved (Symphyotrichum urophyllum) J
great white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) E J
red trillium (Trillium recurvatum) E J
culver's root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) W
culver's root (Veronicastrum virginicum) W

“Full” Shade-- 1-4 hours of sunlight

rosy sedge (Carex rosea) G J
Springell's sedge (Carex sprengellii) J
doll's eyes (Actea pachypoda)
red baneberry (Actea rubra)
wild ginger (Asarum canadense) G J
big leaf aster (Eurybia macrophylla) D G J
wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) J
Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum) G W J
great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)
Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) E J
woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata) E
elm-leaved goldenrod (Solidago ulmifolia) J
heart-leaved (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) J
Short's aster (Symphyotrichum shortii) J
arrow-leaved (Symphyotrichum urophyllum) J
great white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) E J

Dense shade-- less than 1 hour of direct sunlight

cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) J
marginal shield fern (Dryopteris marginalis) W J
doll's eyes (Actaea pachypoda)
red baneberry (Actaea rubra)
Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema atrorubens) J
wild ginger (Asarum canadense) G J
Dutchman's breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) E J
big leaf aster (Eurybia macrophylla) D G J
wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) J
bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) E J
bishop's cap (Mitella diphylla) J
Solomon's seal (Polygonatum biflorum) J
heart-leaved (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) J
Short's aster (Symphyotrichum shortii) J
arrow-leaved (Symphyotrichum urophyllum) J
rue anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides) E J

Small Shrubs

Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)
New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus)
hazelnut (Corylus americana)
bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera) D
Kalm’s St. John’s-wort (Hypericum kalmianum)
shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa) W
black currant (Ribes americanum)
early wild rose (Rosa blanda)

Large Shrubs / Small Trees

downy serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis)
musclewood (Carpinus caroliniana)
pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)
American hazelnut (Corylus americana)
downy hawthorn (Crataegus mollis)
witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana)
eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
wild plum (Prunus americana)
arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis)
nannyberry viburnum (Viburnum lentago)

Large Shade Trees

sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
river birch (Betula nigra) W
shagbark hickory (Carya ovata)
hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)
white pine (Pinus strobus)
swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor) R
northern pin oak (Quercus ellipsoidalis)
bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa)
red oak (Quercus rubra)
eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) W

Fire is Medicine: Fall Prescribed Burns

 NOTE: I originally wrote this piece for the Wild Ones Madison newsletter. However, I felt it was a good fit for Good Oak's blog as well.

This fall, we've had some good long dry spells which have allowed us to conduct several prescribed burns. Of course, this in the context of some truly terrifying wildfires out west this fall, particularly in Colorado and California. It definitely felt strange at times purposefully lighting up woodlands and prairies, on the same days as the headlines told of wildfires burning tens-of-thousands of acres in a day, or racing over 11,000-foot ridges on the continental divide. Yet in Wisconsin, these fall prescribed burns were mild, even compared to spring burns in the same setting, and had very different ecological impacts.

You may have read an article this fall about What Western States Can Learn from Native America Wildfire Management Strategies or Native Americans Reveal Their Secrets To Prevent Forest Fires And More, with the implication that this is new knowledge that is just seeing the light of day. But the truth is that ecologists have understood how valuable fire is to natural communities across the continent for over 70 years. Indeed, the understanding of role of fire in our ecosystems is nearly as old as the science of Ecology itself. Some of the first modern implementation of prescribed burns was done here at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum by early researchers including John Curtis and Aldo Leopold. The role of fire in our ecosystems is no recent revelation. Scientists and land managers have understood these lessons from Indigenous Americans for quite some time.

In our part of the world, from the Midwest to the East Coast, before Euro-American settlement, “wildfires” were primarily light by Indigenous Americans. These fires had many purposes. Fires would be lit to drive game during a hunt. They would be used to clear out vegetation around a village to make it easier to see approaching enemies, or as an offensive tactic in a battle. Clearing the landscape of vegetation by fire made travel much easier. Overall, it is clear that the Ho-Chuck here in south-central Wisconsin, and indigenous people across the region, understood the many ecological benefits of fire; how it would improve plant productivity for better wild food production, provide better forage for game, and keep encroaching woody vegetation at-bay.

Most of these fires were ignited in the fall, most likely as soon as vegetation was sufficiently cured to burn. And it wasn’t just prairies that burned. Wetlands would frequently burn, on a windy day fire could even carry in vegetation over open water. Woodlands burned too, in fact, the oak dominance of our local woodlands is a direct result of indigenous fire management. Our climate is very well suited for growing trees, it is only the frequent fires that created the tallgrass prairie, and that led to the dominance of fire-tolerant oaks and hickories (which coincidentally (or not?), are the most valuable trees for wildlife) in wooded areas. Prairies and savannas would likely burn nearly every year. There were however a few areas where water and topography conspired to 'protect' areas and reduce fire frequency. These include the near-shore areas of our Four Lakes and north facing slopes uphill from streams in the Driftless region. These are the only areas in the region where you would originally have seen less fire-tolerant tree such as red oak, sugar maple, elm and black cherry, among others. But even these forests patches would burn every few years; frequently enough to keep native shrubs and saplings in-check, while occasionally allowing a tree to get large enough to survive these very mild fires and reach the canopy.

Note How much partially-burned vegetation remains on the ground behind the fire.

So what does this mean for prescribed burns today and what did I learn this fall?

1.  We need to burn our natural areas much, much more often. We should be burning roughly 1/3rd of the natural areas in our conservation parks, county and state parks, and state conservation areas  each year. Unfortunately, right now, we’re only burning a tiny percentage of that on an annual basis, with severe ecological consequences.
2.  It can be hard to find good conditions for fall burns. The vegetation that burns during a prescribed burn, grasses, forbs and leaf litter, need to relatively free of water to ignite. First, we usually can’t burn until these plants go dormant, and/or until the leaves fall from canopy trees. That means the burn season doesn’t start until about Halloween each year. Second, with the shorter daylight length periods and increasingly cooler temperatures in fall, evaporation doesn’t happen as quickly as it does during the spring burn season. So often, you need 3-4 precipitation-free days to dry out fuel. Typically, by Thanksgiving the temperatures are too cold and the daylight length period is too short to allow vegetation to dry sufficiently for a burn.
3.  Even when the weather allows for good drying, other factors mean there is just more water in the vegetation in the fall. First, a surprising amount of water can be bound in the cellular tissues of plants. Over the winter, the frequent freeze and thaw causes tiny ice crystals start to perforate the cells of the plant. By spring, this dead vegetation can dry out more thoroughly than it can in the fall.  Also, with shorter daylight periods in fall, and soils start to freeze overnight, soils tend to hold more moisture. Vegetation near the ground wicks up some of this moisture, making it more difficult to ignite. This is more of an issue for clay and loamy soils, and much less of an issue for better-drained sandy or gravelly soils.
4.  Fall burns are safer and easier to conduct. The devastating wildfires out west are the result of decades of fuel build-up, very dry fuels and very low humidity... and then, just a spark. But fuel moisture and humidity in the Midwest never get so extremely low. In spring, we sometimes get dry and windy days that produce extreme fire behavior and spot-fires. It takes good planning, experience, caution and skill to burn on those days, and some days we decide its just too risky. But in the fall you are unlikely to get very low-humidity days with very dry fuels, and so its a safer time of year for novice burners, or safer for more experience teams to burn more area more quickly.
5.  Fall burns often leave more refugia for wildlife as unburned areas often remain in the burn unit where animals can find shelter and food. Even a few inches of unburned duff at the ground layer, or tiny patches that don’t burn can provide refuge for overwintering insect eggs or adults. Sometimes as fire practitioners we want to see our whole burn unit 'black' when the fire is finished. But we need to get used to the idea that some unburned areas allow for wildlife refugia and healthy habitat heterogeneity.
   
6.  Fall burns favor wildflowers over grasses. We often see prairie plantings that are so dominated by warm-season prairie grasses (big bluestem, Indian grass, switchgrass, etc.) that hardly any pollinator-feeding wildflowers remain. This is often because the initial seed mix was too heavy on the grasses, and little interseeding has been done since to improve forb diversity and abundance. However, the issue is exacerbated since most prescribed burns are conducted in mid-to-late-spring, which strongly favors these warm-season grasses. Fall burns give the wildflowers, sedges and native cool-season grasses a head-start on growth in the spring before the tall grasses emerge around mid-May.
7.  Fall burns are better for adding more plant diversity by seeding. Again, one can imagine that in-situ seeds will be better able to survive in a few inches of unburned duff on the ground than they would in a hotter spring burn when the fire burns all the way down to bare mineral soil. But clearing the soil surface of most vegetation gives any seeds you spread within the burn unit good contact with the soil and access to sunlight so they are able to germinate in the spring.

Generally, fall burns have different effects than the more widely practiced spring burns and are arguably more beneficial, especially for managing remnant sites or when trying to increase plant diversity and insect abundance. So in contrast to current practices, I would recommend land owners and land managers try to do as much burning as they can in the fall. If conditions don’t allow you to conduct the burn in the fall, your fire breaks and burn plans will already be set and you’ll be ready to conduct the burn first thing in the spring. By planning to take advantage of burn opportunities in the fall, we can have more time to burn every year, and see the ecological benefits of burning across more of our landscape.

Good Oak's Coronavirus Response

UPDATE 3/25/20: Since the Coronavirus issue, and government guidelines around it are changing rapidly, I am updating this post, with the most current information. The original blog post can be found starting below the first image.

Update: 4/15/20: We are resuming landscaping services! See the fourth bullet-point below.

Good Oak to Continue Operations as a Critical Trade

Greetings All,

After careful review of the Safer At Home Order provided by the State of Wisconsin on Tuesday, March 24th, and after discussion with other local small business owners who also provide ecological land management services, Good Oak Ecological Services plans to continue all operations under the following grounds:

• First, the Order deems “pesticide application” as a Critical Trade. That would include the management of invasive plants, such as the garlic mustard control work which we are currently engaged in. It would follow that other non-chemical, pest management techniques, mechanical or manual, would also be allowed.

• Second, “forestry and arborists” are also listed as Critical Trades, these trades are strongly associated with ecological land management. The State has delegated the management of prescribed fires to the Forestry division of the Wisconsin DNR. As such, it would follow that prescribed burning is a practice associated with forestry and therefore can also continue, provided local fire officials are still allowing it.

• Third, we maintain natural areas on public lands, ranging from stormwater management areas to outdoor recreational parks. According to the Order, “Essential Infrastructure shall be construed broadly to avoid any impacts to essential infrastructure, broadly defined.” Therefore it seems reasonable that any management of natural areas on public lands should be deemed essential to prevent ecological degradation.

• According to the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) landscaping is considered "essential" as part of the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce advisory list, listed under Public Works and Infrastructure Support Services.

Managing natural areas and running a small business are always full of uncertainty. The coronavirus has leveled-up the uncertainty we deal with considerably.
 
We appreciate your patience as we have had to take time and effort to adjust our operations to assure that we are operating in a safe and responsible manner during the Covid-19 outbreak. We will continue monitoring the situation to be sure we are practicing within the guidelines of the current, and any future, Emergency Orders. We will be regularly re-evaluating whether continuing operations is both safe for our staff and clients, and responsible for our community. In the mean time, we are following the safety protocols as listed on the following page to ensure safety.

If you are waiting to hear from us, we will be in touch soon! We are, however, now limiting in-person site visits unless absolutely necessary. Furthermore, if you are uncomfortable or unable to continue a project with us at this time, we will respect your decision, so please let me know.

Stay Well,
Frank Hassler
Owner / Chief Ecologist, Good Oak Ecological Services

Good Oak’s Coronavirus Protocols (As of 3/25/20):

1. We are instructing our staff to follow all general CDC guidelines: washing hands, cleaning surfaces, maintaining a distance of 6’-10’, staying home if they feel sick, and project managers are now working from home.
2. We have broken our staff up into two smaller teams of 4-6 individuals. No members of any one team will have any direct contact with any members of the other teams.
3. Members of the same team will be driving to work sites separately, only meeting on worksites and therefore will only interact outdoors where they can maintain a safe distance. A single crew member will be driving, and accessing the interior of the work truck.
4. Only one staff member will be accessing the office portion of our building. Only the two crew members in charge of truck management will be accessing the shop portion of our building. Those two crew members are instructed to coordinate in order to avoid being in the shop at the same time.
5. All shared equipment will be sanitized after each use.
6. Staff will at all times wear gloves appropriate for the task at hand, while working on-site.
7. We are ceasing most in-person site-visits, except when absolutely necessary. In the case that we are going to meet with clients, we will knock on the door when we arrive and then step back to maintain a 6’ to 10’ distance. We will politely refuse any invitation inside. During the outdoor site visit, we will insist that clients maintain a safe distance per CDC guidelines, at all times.

The below was originally posted on 3/20/20:

All Good Oak project managers are working from home. A few staff members will periodically be stopping by the shop for supplies, materials and paperwork, but they will be coordinating among themselves to avoid contact.

I wanted to take a moment to inform you of the steps Good Oak is taking during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Good Oak is continuing operations for the foreseeable future, with many precautions which I will explain below. While we must take steps to ensure the safety of our human community, we feel that the work we do to restore and maintain the health of our natural communities must carry on. This work is both time sensitive and weather dependent. Effective natural area management cannot be postponed.

That said, we are dedicated to being good community members and prioritizing the health and safety of our staff, our loved-ones, and our community. As such, we have decided to make drastic changes to how we operate in order to avoid aiding the spread of this dangerous virus.

• We are instructing our staff to follow the CDC guidelines: washing hands, cleaning surfaces, maintaining a distance of 6’-10’, staying home if they feel sick(!), and project managers are now working from their new home offices.
• But we have gone beyond these basic steps to further isolate our employees. We have broken our staff up into two teams of four to six individuals. No members of any one team will have any direct contact with any members of the other teams. Members of the same team will be driving to work sites separately, only meeting on worksites and therefore will only interact outdoors where they can maintain a safe distance.
• We are reducing travel and in-person contact with clients as much as possible, but we will continue doing site-visits, as needed. If we are going to meet with you during this time, we will knock on your door when we arrive and then step back to maintain a 6’-10’ distance. We will have to politely refuse any invitation inside. If you will be joining us outside during the visit, we request that you always maintain that distance per CDC guidelines.

Through these measures we feel we can maintain operations with minimal risk of spreading Covid-19 among our staff and to those around us, while keeping our staff gainfully employed and continuing to provide our ecological restoration and sustainable landscaping services to our clients. If the time comes, we will be obeying any “shelter in place” or “stay at home” order that is put in place. Let's hope it doesn’t come to that in Wisconsin.

One last note: Times are about to get tough for everyone, but especially for small businesses like Good Oak and our very hard working crew. We know that many people and organizations will not be able to carry on with intended projects, due to their own financial challenges. I’d just like to ask that if you are in a fairly stable financial position, please consider throwing us a bit more work than usual. I am especially worried that our workload will slow down to a critical level come summer and fall.

I started Good Oak in this home office, and it will persevere in this home office. As a bonus, I get a window seat with a nice view!

Take care of yourself. And remember, spring is on its way!


-- Frank

Now Hiring - Sutainable Landscaping Manager and Ecological Restoration Manager

If you'd like to get your hands dirty making a positive change for our environment, we're currently growing our crew for the 2019 season! 

 - Sustainable Landscaping Manager: We're seeking individuals that are qualified to lead our sustainable landscaping division. The ideal candidate will be someone with a strong background in horticulture and landscaping, and at least some knowledge of native plants and their importance in the landscape.

- Ecological Land Manager: We're always interested in meeting people that are qualified to lead a team conducting land management and restoration work in the field, and work with clients on developing and executing plans.

- Ecological Restoration and Sustainable Landscaping Internship: We’re also looking for spring and summer interns - students and recent graduates who are looking to learn while they work. This could grow into a year-round, full-time Apprenticeship for the right candidates. Applications are due March 8th for the Spring Internship, and April 19th for the Summer Internship. We're also looking to extend our internships to a year-round, full-time Apprentice position for good candidates, ask us about it when you apply.

Please pass on to any potentially-interested parties!

Goldenrods of the Upper Midwest Part 1, Prairies, Fields and Roadsides

Part 1: Goldenrods of Full-Sun sites, Prairies, Fields and Roadsides

Goldenrods are blooming all around us now in late-August and September, some will bloom all the way into October. There are 25 species of goldenrod (In the genera Solidago and Euthamia) in Wisconsin and telling them all apart can be confusing. I'm writing this to help educate our staff, but I thought I'd share with everyone. I have to say, I learned a few things myself as I worked to clear things up here. I'll be covering 18 of the most common and notable species of goldenrod, not every goldenrod in the Midwest, but the most common species.

Throughout this guide I'll be underlining key identification information that I use to tell one species from the other, so if you're skimming for identification guidance, look for that.

Part 1 of this guide is for sunny areas, both disturbed sites and prairie remnants. If you are at a site with some shade, check out Part 2 for woodland and savanna goldenrods.

Common, Weedy and Confusing Goldenrods:

Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)

This is, by far, our most common goldenrod species and really, one of the most common plant species overall in the Midwestern landscape. This is a native species that does well in disturbed environments. Roadsides, abandoned fields, even urban areas, are common habitats, but it can also be found abundantly in planted prairies and degraded remnants. It can spread by seed and by rhizomes, and is able to form massive colonies, that can actually really retard prairie restoration efforts.

Usually, these form a large monoculture of yellow flowers in early-fall. They can grow to 3-6’. The leaves are alternate and stay about the same size from the bottom to the top, become only slightly smaller towards the apex of the plant. The margins of the leaves are toothed or smooth with a lanceolate to broadly linear shape to them. White hairs can be found on the stems and the underside of the leaves are pubescent and slightly rough to the touch. Relatively small flowers are arranged on the flower stalks, also called the "rachis",  which arches out gently and which are generally horizontal.  Notably, the stems are rough "scabrous", with short, stiff hairs. This is key differentiator between Canada goldenrod and giant goldenrod.
C = 1

tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima)

Also known as late goldenrod, this species is very difficult to tell apart from Canada goldenrod. Some would say they are subspecies or varieties of the same. Most of my favorite reference books and the Online Flora of Wisconsin separate them out into different species, but interestingly Black and Judziewicz’s Wildflowers of Wisconsin make no mention of tall goldenrod at all. The following descriptive notes reference Wilhelm and Rericha’s Flora of the Chicago Region and John Hilty’s Illinois Wildflowers: (who in-turn references Vascular Flora of Illinois by Robert Mohlenbrock, 2002):

Tall goldenrod blooms later than Canada goldenrod. In tall goldenrod, the phyllaries (the overlapping whorl of bracts which subtend each composite flower, also called involucres) are always more than 3mm long, and they are shorter than 3mm in Canada goldenrod.

To me, that's a pretty minor nuance to use to split out a separate species among plants that, ecologically and morphologically, are very similar. However, the apparent differences in flowering times suggest we are looking at populations that cannot interbreed. I think its OK for anyone short of the professional botanist to lump these two species together under the 'Canada goldenrod' banner. It certainly makes no difference for land management purposes.
C = 1

giant goldenrod (Solidago gigantea)

This species is also very similar to Canada goldenrod, and is generally found in similar habitats. From an ecological perspective giant goldenrod tends towards wetter areas. It is weedy and forms colonies, but it is not as weedy as Canada goldenrod. Physically, the easiest way to tell them apart is by the stems. Giant goldenrod has smooth, "glabrous" stems which are often reddish, and which also often have a translucent white, waxy "glaucus" coating that you can wipe off with your fingers. There are some minor differences between giant and Canada goldenrod in the flower arrangement and size as well as the leaf shape and how the leaves attach to the stem. However, there is enough subtlety and variability in these features that they aren't particularly useful for quick field identification. Just remember: giant goldenrod has smooth stems, and Canada goldenrod has rough stems.
C = 3

Prairie Goldenrods, Mesic to Dry Sites:

early goldenrod (Solidago juncea) 

If you see a goldenrod blooming in July, this is it. The flower period can extend into mid-August in Wisconsin, but early goldenrod is generally finished blooming before the similar Missouri and old-field goldenrods start to bloom. This species has smooth stems and leaves and its leaves get sequentially smaller from the bottom of the plant to the top. Its inflorescences all tend to arch out charmingly to the side. Its a really attractive, short-stature plant, and with its usual bloom time, its a shame its not more readily available for use in landscaping.

C = 4

Missouri goldenrod (Solidago missouriensis) 

I'll admit, this is a species that has always confused me. Its a lot like early goldenrod. It blooms earlier than most goldenrods, but not as early as early goldenrod. Its stem and leaves are generally smooth like giant goldenrod and early goldenrod. Its inflorescences all arch outward gracefully. The best way, that I can tell, to differentiate it from early goldenrod is that Missouri goldenrod typically has serrated leaf edges, where as early goldenrod usually has smooth leaf edges. Compared to giant goldenrod, its much shorter, and giant goldenrod is among the last goldenrods to bloom. This species could easily be placed among the "confusing" goldenrods listed above, but I don't think its common enough to make that list. This species is typically found in prairie remnants whether in good condition, or degraded.
C = 7

old-field goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis)

Old field goldenrod looks a lot like early goldenrod with its short stature, large basal leaves, and small leaves towards to tops. They often grow in similar habitats too, from dry-mesic to dry prairies and I've seen them in a few savannas and barrens...  However, old-field goldenrod, ironically, never grows in old fields. It does seem to stick around in degraded prairies longer than many species, so perhaps it should be called "old-prairie goldenrod"? Its other common name, grey goldenrod, may be more appropriate, because it has a sort-of frosted, grey appearance to the foliage. Its rough to the touch, and blooms in the typical goldenrod season of late-August to early-September, so despite having the same gestalt as early goldenrod, they are easy to tell apart. Its inflorescences generally arch off charmingly to one side. This is another shorter, more charming species that should be used in landscaping more.

C = 4

showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa)

This species is fairly common in wet-mesic to dry-mesic prairies, and is often found in prairie plantings and wildflower gardens. Its attractive and easy to propagate, but it gets too tall and floppy in relatively rich garden soil. Showy goldenrod is a fairly smooth plant. Its leaves are somewhat smaller as they ascend the stem, and especially small just below the flower plume. Stems are often, but not always, reddish-maroon. The inflorescence (flower plume) is more upright that most goldenrods, (individual flower heads are larger than most), kind of like a big plume of feathers.
C = 5

stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida)

Stiff goldenrod is pretty unique looking among goldenrods Its fairly tall, but very, well, stiff looking, with a thick, rough stem. Leaves are rounded at the tip and have a rough texture. It has relatively large flower heads, that arrange themselves in relatively a flat-topped structure. Some botanists are now assigning this species to a new genus, as Oligoneuron rigidum. With its rather distinctive appearance, this seems justified to me.

This species looks tidy in a prairie remnant, but its another one that becomes an oversized ogre in gardens. It is common in planted prairie reconstructions where it can compete well with other tall grasses and forbs.
C = 5

White Goldenrods...?

upland white goldenrod (Solidago ptarmicoides)

It seems a contradiction in terms, but there are in-fact a few white-flowered goldenrods. As the story goes, upland white goldenrod was considered an aster once upon a time (called "stiff aster"), until one botanist noticed that they would hybridize with rough goldenrod. Solidago it is then, white flower or not!

This species blooms in late summer or early fall in rocky soils, often on dry sites. Each plant has a handful of white flowers, which are relatively large among the goldenrods, clearly separated from each other, with all the flowers at more or less the same height. These flowers are all at about the same height at the very top of the plant.

Note that some botanists are now splitting this species into a new genus as Oligoneuron album. Its not reverse discrimination because its white, several other yellow-flowering goldenrods are being put into this genus as well (see above).
C = 8

There are two other "white goldenrods" in our area, silver-rod (Solidago bicolor) C = 7, and white goldenrod (Solidago hispida), C = 6. However, these are considerably less common. They also have white flowers that are most-likely to be confused with asters, and both have vertical stalks of flowers, rather than the flat-top of upland white goldenrod. 
Interesting side-note: these species are staying in the Solidago genus (rather than being moved to Oligoneuron), as far as I can tell, so it appears that yellow flowers are not necessarily a defining trait of the goldenrods.

An Invasive Goldenrod...?

seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens)

This species is from the East Coast and has been moving inland along the interstate highway system. All the excess salt spread on our roadways is creating an environment in which this species has a competitive advantage over other vegetation. Is it truly invasive? I'd call it opportunistic.

The easiest way to identify this species is to note that its always along roadways. It also blooms later than any native goldenrod, in fact it often doesn't start blooming until other goldenrods have finished. We're talking late-October and November here. Leaves and stems are smooth to the touch. Overall appearance is similar to giant goldenrod or an oversized Missouri goldenrod. Leaf shape is distinctively elongated with toothless margins.
C = n/a

To Be Continued...

In: Goldenrods of the Upper Midwest... Part 2,  Woodlands and Wetlands