I have a “love/no not there!” relationship with goldenrod (Solidago).  And it’s not for the reason you might think. 

I do sniffle and sneeze a bit when goldenrod is in bloom, but it’s not due to the abundance of goldenrod growing around my house.  Goldenrod does not aggravate allergies.  Its pollen does not make you sneeze.  Don’t believe me?  Well, it’s true.  The real culprit is ragweed (Ambrosia), a nondescript weed whose pollen is easily carried on the breeze to make you sneeze.  And sneeze.  And sneeze some more.  Goldenrod pollen, on the other hand, is too heavy for the wind to carry.  Goldenrod relies on the many pollinators that visit its flowers to spread its pollen.  Because ragweed blooms at the same time as goldenrod, the much showier and easily recognizable goldenrod gets the blame.

Now that I’ve set that record straight, let me say I love Goldenrod.  It’s a beautiful wildflower among so many that bloom around here.  There’s little that can compete with those bright yellow plumes (though yellow jewelweed gives it a good try).  Goldenrod is a food source for bees and other pollinators:  witness the constant buzzing in the garden once those yellow plumes begin to sway in the breeze.

Goldenrod has been growing wild around here for as far back as my memory of the great outdoors goes.  It’s always been there, but it wasn’t until recently that I’d given it much thought.  You see, goldenrod, for all its prettiness is a bit of a bully.  It spreads not only by the seeds scattered from its feathery flowers, but also (and might I say insidiously) by underground runners.  And that brings me to the “No! Not there!” part of my relationship with goldenrod.

There is never just one goldenrod plant.  Like the fictional triffids, a few goldenrod plants left to their own devices soon become an army of bowed, golden-headed soldiers, feeding bees and crowding out other plants.  Since goldenrod is a perennial, it will not only return each spring, but there will be more each year.

And so, when the goldenrod on my homestead gets a bit too pushy, it’s my cue to weed.  I pull them out by the roots when I can, cut them off at soil level when they’re too strongly entrenched or they’ve popped up in a bed that’s full of plants whose roots I don’t want to tear up along with the goldenrod.   

If you’re wondering why I bother letting goldenrod grow here at all, it’s really pretty simple.  It’s all about feeding those pollinators that love goldenrod so much. 

Goldenrod (Solidago)

* * *