Goldenrod is a plant with public relations problems.  Almost every group of people or company these days has spin doctors and image consultants. I would like to offer my public relations services to the Goldenrods of North America.

Goldenrods (at left) are incredibly important plants to the ecology of our area and they also bring a beautiful yellow glow to our fields as summer moves into fall.

So, with such an introduction about such a fine group of plants, why would they need an image consultant?

Well, it all has to do with timing. Goldenrods have the unfortunate luck of blooming during the same period as Ragweed.

Ragweed, as most of us know, causes allergies for many people - probably as much as grass causes people to have hay fever in spring. When folks who suffer from Ragweed allergies venture outside in late summer and early fall; they sneeze and get itchy eyes - and what do they see'Goldenrods blooming. Next thing you know Goldenrods are being called Ragweed. Why?

Well Ragweed is deceptive. Ragweed (pictured at right) has tiny candle-shaped clusters of small green flowers, the same colour as the plant. Ragweed grows fairly close to the ground in disturbed soils around construction sites, abandoned areas in the city and on the edge of gravel road shoulders, where other plants can’t grow. Most people never even see Ragweed, but they certainly experience it. It’s quite unremarkable in appearance: it’s just green.

There are about 23 species of Solidago, the latin and genus name for the Goldenrods.
Most are found living in fields with the colourful Asters. Now Asters bloom at the same time as Goldenrods and Ragweed and show themselves to us with brilliant blues and bold whites, but they are not blamed for the ragweed allergy. There is a simple reason. Asters had the help of spin doctors from the start, and they ducked when blame came their way. That blame not only seems to have hit the Goldenrods smack in the face, it also seems to have stuck.

So why are we so sure about what causes the fall allergy season? Well it all has to do with wind and honey bees. People are allergic to wind-borne pollen. Some plants like ragweed, grasses and birch trees release their pollen into the wind. The fact that millions of pollen grains are released by these plants creates a good chance that some will reach other plants of the same species, thus allowing pollination to take place in the female flower. If that doesn’t happen, odds are the pollen will definitely find your eyes and nose.

There is an interesting link between these species that have wind-borne pollen. Their flowers are always small and green. They don’t need attractive flowers like Goldenrods, because they are not trying to attract insects like honeybees to pollinate them.

Goldenrods and Asters are alive with pollinating insects in the fall. These bright flowering plants have a small amount of pollen and it is sticky. The only way it can leave the plant is by having an insect touch it. The insects then fly off to another plant taking the pollen with it. Only a little pollen is produced by these plants, because they don’t have to rely on the wind to carry it. Their pollen has special delivery.

These fall wildflowers play an incredibly important role in the survival of many insects. The same insects that pollinate goldenrods in the fall are responsible for pollinating our crops each spring and summer. Goldenrods produce a lot of nectar and a great deal of it ends up in our honey. Goldenrod and Aster nectars are the last nectars that bees can collect in the fall to stock up their winter food supply at their nests.

Each year we see ads from pharmaceutical companies and we hear talk show hosts tell us about the evil yellow blooming ragweed that they see in their travels. Advertising companies use colourful flowers like Echinacea or Goldenrod in their marketing, because a boring green ragweed flower would never catch your attention in an antihistamine ad. Your neighbour might complain about the fields of goldenrods in our natural areas, and demand that the fields be mowed. A funny thing about ragweed is it can’t compete with goldenrods and asters. These strong plants keep ragweed out of their fields.

So if you see a colourful flower, rest assured that its pollen is sticky and can’t travel on the wind to cause your allergy. Ragweed, hiding in the ditches, lying low and out of sight, is the culprit that throws its pollen to the wind to find your nose.

Achoo!

'I hear honey helps build up our immune systems.

by Bruce Mackenzie, Manager of Customer Service and Operations