A goldenrod that doesn't spread!
This stately-looking goldenrod likes sunny sites and delights bees, butterflies, wasps, and flies with its rich pollen and nectar and birds with caterpillars in spring and seeds all winter long.
Bright golden flowers bloom from August to October. Unlike most goldenrods, they are not presented in a flowing arrangement but as showy, dense flat flower cluster. 
The leaves turn purple in the fall.
 
Ecology: 
As all goldenrods, stiff goldenrod is the superhero for all life. Goldenrod supports an unsurpassed number of pollen specialist bees with its rich, big, sticky pollen. (Goldenrod pollen cannot be carried by the wind and, therefore, doesn't cause hay fever; the culprit is ragweed.) One-third of Ontario's bees rely on a very specific plant or plant family to collect specific pollen to provision their nests so their future larvae can feed on it and produce the next generation.
 
Goldenrod is also unsurpassed in providing food for the caterpillars of over 100 moth species. This is important because they are the non-negociable food source for breeding birds. Caterpillars are the very reason birds migrate to us in the first place. 
 
So, make room for some goldenrod in your garden. But be careful not to plant prolific rhizomatous species; they will take over. 
 
Good to know:
You can Chelsea chop the plant in June to keep it shorter, create more blooms, and make it bushier. Cut the stems one millimetre above a pair of leaves to about two-thirds or half of their height.