Botanical Name: Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’

Common Name: Golden Creeping Jenny, Moneywort

Hardiness Zone: Perennial in Most Climates (USDA Zones 3–9)

Size: 2–4" Tall × 24–36"+ Spread

Growth Habit: Low, Trailing, Spreading Groundcover

Sunlight: Full Sun to Partial Shade (Best Color in Full Sun)

Soil: Moist, Well-Drained Soil; Adapts to Average Garden Conditions

Water Needs: Moderate; Prefers Consistent Moisture

Bloom Season: Late Spring to Early Summer

Fertilizer: Minimal; Avoid Excess Fertility

Features: Bright Chartreuse-Gold Foliage, Trailing Habit, Fast Coverage, Excellent Container Spiller

Uses: Ground Cover, Hanging Baskets, Containers, Borders, Edging, Water Garden Margins

Patent: ❌ Not Patented

Propagation: ✔ Propagation Allowed

See our complete Creeping Jenny Plant Guide for full care details.

More About Golden Creeping Jenny

Golden Creeping Jenny is prized for its vivid chartreuse to golden foliage that instantly brightens gardens, containers, and shaded spaces. The rounded leaves form long trailing stems that spill beautifully over edges, creating a soft, flowing effect that naturally softens hard lines in planters, stone walls, and raised beds. In mixed containers, the foliage acts almost like a living ribbon of color, weaving between companion plants and tying the entire arrangement together visually. 

In late Spring, small yellow flowers appear among the foliage, adding subtle seasonal interest without distracting from the plant’s main feature. While attractive, this plant is grown primarily for its foliage, which remains colorful from Spring through Fall. As temperatures warm, the foliage often intensifies in color, creating a bright golden cascade that stands out especially well against darker greens, purples, and burgundy foliage plants.

Why We Like It (Our Trials)

In our trials, Golden Creeping Jenny has proven to be exceptionally adaptable and easy to grow. It performs beautifully in containers and hanging baskets, where its trailing habit adds movement and contrast, and it spreads quickly in the landscape where moisture is available. In garden beds, it can form a low, flowing groundcover that gently fills gaps between larger plants and softens the edges of planting borders. 

We especially appreciate its color reliability. In full sun, the foliage glows bright gold; in partial shade, it shifts to a softer chartreuse, making it flexible for many design situations. Even during periods of summer heat, the foliage tends to remain vibrant as long as the plant receives consistent moisture. That combination of strong color, adaptability, and dependable trailing growth makes it one of the easiest foliage plants to use when designing containers or brightening quiet corners of the garden.

Golden Creeping Jenny vs. Other Groundcovers

Compared to ‘Goldii’, the traditional Lysimachia ‘Aurea’ tends to spread more aggressively and can become invasive in favorable conditions, forming dense mats as stems root along the nodes. ‘Goldii’ maintains a more controlled habit with stronger, more consistent golden foliage, making it easier to manage in containers and intentional plantings.

Compared to silver spillers like Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’, Creeping Jenny offers a warmer, more energetic color and a denser mat of foliage. When compared to low-growing Sedums or Vinca, it provides faster coverage and stronger trailing performance, though it benefits from some containment in garden beds due to its spreading nature.