Plant Profile: Golden Lace

It's time to start featuring a few favourite plants once in a while, so I choose "Golden Lace" first, Patrinia scabiosifolia.  The species name indicates the foliage is like unto Scabiosa, a plant that is planted regularly 'round here, but I have never grown myself.  I see the resemblance in the foliage, and even the long stems.  I'd not heard of Golden Lace until a couple years ago, when I saw seeds for sale at Gardens North.  Then I found it on a few blogs, and had to have it.  

It is in full bloom right now here in Nova Scotia, Canada, and not only pleases the eye, but the pollinators.  

I obtained a little packet of seeds early in 2012, and they came up well.  I planted them out later in the summer, and they all came back in 2013.  Some of them bloomed, some stayed leafy and reserved their blooms for this year.  
   I also discovered this spring that it spreads viable seeds quite well. I had many seedlings come up this spring, 'volunteers' as we sometimes say.  Fine with me.  It's a lovely plant, with very strong stems, and great colour at this time of year.   I recently dug a few out to take from the cottage garden to the new home I  moved to this summer.  
     Here are some images of the plant from early to latter stages.  You can see how the more mature leaves, and 'higher-up' leaves, are more 'scabiosa-like.'

It seems a very happy perennial here in my cottage garden.  Some are being feasted upon by an army of black aphids, but the plants are none the worse for wear. My Golden Lace plants are growing in pretty good soil, with afternoon and evening sunshine.  As others have found, the plant can vary a lot in height.  Below see three clumps - all grown from the same seed pack - of three distinct heights, from two feet to about six feet.  The tallest on the left are in the foreground - don't be distracted by the vibrant yellow of the Cup Plant behind.  

According to the Missouri Botanical Garden website, this plant is a host to a Daylily rust, and also listed as invasive down there.  So, one may be taking chances. 

As you can see, I took the plunge, and hope to have Golden Lace growing for years to come.