Green and Gold sometimes referred to as Golden Knee, is a herbaceous perennial that can reach 12 inches tall and has rich yellow blooms from May to October.    It is in May that it produces an abundance of blooms but will continued to bloom until October.   Here is Georgia it will be evergreen unless we have an unusual cold winter.   It is one of my favorite native perennials and once established it will become a wonderful ground cover.  The bright yellow flowers are set against dark green leaves that enable them to shine in the shade.   It grows best in part to full shade in well drained slightly acidic soils.   It does tolerate full sun if it is watered regularly.

Here at the Cherokee Garden in Cobb County our Green and Gold is thriving.   We have had a mild winter with lots of rain so it has spread nicely and we have been able to share it with a lot of  the Cherokee Garden Volunteers.   It spreads by rhizome roots but it can also self seed.   The more sun it receives the more blooms will will produce.

The Cherokee would use an extract from the roots to treat snake bites.  The flowers were also used as a dye for arts and  crafts.