Flower of Trollius chinensis 'Golden Queen'

The Gleam of Gold

Posted on by Ann Mackay

NB: A note for WordPress Reader users – you need to click on the title of the post again to come out of the reader and go to the post itself. This allows you to see the whole of the top photograph. (Otherwise you may see just a tiny section!)

The bog garden that I created last year has allowed me to grow a few plants that would find it hard to survive here otherwise. It’s a tiny space – about 5 to 6ft across – and now pretty much full. In it I have Siberian irises, astilbes, ragged robin ( Lychnis flos-cuculi) and the plant you see here, Trollius chinensis ‘Golden Queen’.

I’ve tried growing this plant in the ordinary garden soil here and failed; the conditions were too dry. It needs moist soil that doesn’t dry out, so was one of the plants I wanted to try in the bog garden. The bog garden does have to be kept watered, especially in the hot weather we’re having at the moment. It can accidentally dry out…oops! But it’s much easier to look after moisture-loving plants when they’re all in the same space. The water I give them lasts much longer too.

Although their name declares them to be ‘golden’, to me these flowers are more orange. Whatever their description, they are certainly bright and gleam out from their dark background of iris leaves and bronze elder. Their shape is unusual and eye-catching, with a central tuft that the RHS explains to be ‘nectar-bearing petals’, surrounded by a ring of ‘petal-like sepals’. (I’m continually impressed by the variety of flower forms that nature comes up with!)

At the moment, this and the other plants in the new bog garden seem to be doing well. However, that may mean that this small area gets overcrowded…maybe I’ll soon have to find somewhere to make another bog garden!🌿

Flower of Trollius chinensis 'Golden Queen'
Trollius chinensis ‘Golden Queen’ is also known by the common name ‘globeflower’.
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Published by Ann Mackay

Photographer, mixed-media art adventurer and completely daft about plants.......

26 thoughts on “The Gleam of Gold”

  1. I immediately saw the flower as orange, which accords with what you said in your text. The green background offers a good complement. The angle at which you took your second picture emphasizes the way the darker orange elements rise from the center of the flower.

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    1. I may have to keep an eye on the plant to make sure that its green background (Siberian iris) doesn’t swamp it. But it does show up the flowers well…hope they behave themselves. (Gardening feels like keeping the peace between plants at times!)

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  3. Chinensis was the clue that this came from a different part of the world. It certainly is a pretty thing, and one of the most complex/interesting forms I’ve seen. In that respect, it reminds me of the passionflower in my current blog: marked by details that may (probably?) serve some purpose, even if that purpose isn’t immediately obvious. I can well imagine that color shining out like a little beacon in your garden.

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  4. Bog gardens are such fun, I love moisture- loving plants. Your trollius is gorgeous. I had another beauty from Beth Chatto years ago called Trollius ‘ Alabaster’ that was the palest lemon and very beautiful.

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    1. I’ve seen ‘Alabaster’ and yes, I think it’s a really lovely flower – it would look fabulous in a softer colour scheme. It feels good to be able to grow some of the moisture-loving plants that I had in the garden when we lived in Scotland.

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  5. Ann, Beautiful flower. I am a wordpress user, and I have tried clicking the title to see more pics, but I am now sure how many more I should be seeing. For example, in this post, I see two pictures. Are there more? Is there a picture of your bog garden that I cannot see? (I would love to see the whole garden.) I do love the pictures that I can see. Cheers

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    1. You’re getting it right Madeleine! I put that note at the top because if you are in the WP reader, WordPress cuts part of the top image off! I don’t understand why it cuts up the image, most frustrating! it means that you need to be at the actual post to see it properly. (There are usually two images on each post, occasionally more.) I haven’t photographed my entire garden recently because there are so many big changes being made and a lot of mess! Eventually though… 🙂

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  7. What an unusual central tuft. You mention you have Astilbes in the bog garden. I have two in my shady border that I never really have to water, but my white astilbe is looking very poorly and the flowers (?) are shrivelling to brown instead of opening. Would you say this is due to being too dry?

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    1. Astilbes like moist soil and a bit of shade from hot sun, so it could be that it’s too dry. Or it could be a disease – I’ve read that they can get fusarium wilt. In Scotland the soil we had was heavy clay that could dry out in summer and the astilbe plants I had got a fair bit of sun too. Their leaves would wilt and dry out by late summer. I just cut the dead leaves off and they returned next spring. Here I’m hoping to keep them moist enough to retain their leaves and they do get some shade in the afternoon.

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      1. Mmm… I wonder if it is a disease. The red one is looking OK and both are in the same border. I have given it a good drink and cut off the worst of the flowers, see if it revives, otherwise I will cut it back to the ground.

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  8. Wow, that certainly makes a statement. I have no room for a bog garden and our local microclimate of wet, wet and even more wet might be ideal. My tiny strip of reasonably sunless back garden always gets muddy, maybe that’s an idea for potential future development.

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    1. LOL, at this rate the whole garden might turn into a bog garden, hehe! The rain has been good for everything though…our grass is green, the shrubs and trees all look healthy and everything is growing like mad. 🙂

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  10. Trollius chinensis ‘Golden Queen’ is such a lovely orange! Nigel’s got some yellow Trollius in his garden and our rainy climate and the heavier soil there, means there’s not much danger of them drying out. They’ve done really well there while other things have struggled. We need this orange Trollius too!

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    1. It’s a beauty, Liz, and would look lovely alongside your yellow-flowered one. Ours is growing in a little bog-garden that I made, but it’s a very limited space and I’m hoping that the Siberian irises won’t crowd it out. Hope you find one!

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