Goldenrod: Nothing To Sneeze At

Nearly 10 years ago at just about this time in the summer I fell in love. I’m hard-pressed to explain it, but I do want to share the experience with you, as falling in love in middle age was totally unexpected.It began in July, and I must preface the rest by saying that I do a lot of driving. In one week, between work in Southampton, Westchester and the Catskills, I can easily put 800 miles on the odometer. The one thing I love about this travel, though, is that in one day I can get to travel through three climate zones and see the progress of Mother Nature from zone to zone. Even the tedious travel on the LIE can be wondrous as I watch similar plants and their progression of bloom from the warmer climes of Queens to the cooler shores of the East End.

It was during these drives that summer that I was smitten by the goldenrods. What’s really weird is that they’ve always been there and yet for some reason that summer they absolutely captivated me—as single individuals on a rocky outcrop, in mass colonies along the roadside, and as splashes of color along dunes and barrier islands.

As an aside I should mention that it was not too long ago when the common wisdom was that it was the goldenrods that led to the severe allergies some people have late in the summer. At times this false wisdom led to mass eradication of the goldenrods until it was proven that it was actually a very different plant, Ambrosia artemisiifolia or ragweed, that is the true allergen and not the goldenrod.

But that summer I watched, took pictures and from July until October I was obsessed with solidago. Not a bad plant to be obsessed with, though, since it has virtually no insect pests, is just about disease-free, needs absolutely no care and ranges in height from just a foot all the way up to 4 feet. My biggest regret is that it occurs only in yellow. Then I discovered a pale white variety.

This plant has been maligned for far too long, though, and even to this day many of you probably still think that the goldenrod causes hay fever. But, like many a native American plant, the solidagos have not just been misunderstood, but we’ve neglected them in our landscape, while the Europeans, especially the Germans, have taken a weed that grows in most of our yards, fields and roadsides and turned it into a thriving industry of horticultural hybridization and profit.

As recently as 30 years ago prominent gardening reference books still referred to the goldenrods as “sneezeweed” since it was wrongly presumed that these plants produced the allergic reactions. In fact, though, the culprit is the wind-borne pollen of the ragweed, which often can be found growing in the same areas under the same conditions but isn’t even remotely related.

The goldenrods, whose blooming season begins in late July and will run for another two months, are actually members of the sunflower family or compositae, because its members have daisy-like flowers. Look very closely. Exam­ine the flowers with a magnifying glass: Each is indeed a little daisy. Things are much more complex than they appear, though. Each daisy “flower” is actually composed of many flowers. There are two kinds, the showy ray flowers around the edge of the group flower, and the disc flowers in the center.

There are well over 125 species of goldenrods growing from coast to coast and from Canada to Mexico, with about a dozen found growing in the wild from Maine to New York. The most common in this area is probably the seaside goldenrod, solidago sempervirens, which can grow to 6 feet tall and is salt-resistant. But solidagos can also be found on mountaintops, in lightly shaded woodlands and in sunny meadows and wet areas and on the edge of our sandy beaches.

So it is indeed a versatile plant family, and all members have one thing in common. In late summer and early fall, they turn the landscape to a golden blaze of glory. Take note, though. The days when you could find only a common yellow goldenrod are fast becoming history, as your mail-order catalogs and internet nurseries will attest. Most garden centers though carry few if any varieties, though the larger, more sophisticated shops will offer more and online you can find close to 15 varieties while at least 25 are in cultivation.

Unfortunately, goldenrods are so common that they are often ignored and their garden potential lost, but this too is becoming a thing of the past. For while the solidagos are somewhat ignored here, they are very popular in England and Germany. English gardeners and English garden books extol them and make frequent references to these plants, and several German hybridizers have developed clones, some of which are now being offered by some nurseries and online.

One problem that the hybridizers have had, and this has slowed the production and introduction of new varieties, is that these plants have rampant and virtually uncontrollable sexual encounters, resulting in unexpected and unpredictable hybrids. For this reason natural or “planned” hybridization has been difficult, and new varieties have to be either genetically engineered or cloned.

The fact that these plants mutate and change so quickly in the wild has a side benefit. You may be out hiking or walking the back forty or along the beach when you spot a goldenrod that has a particularly notable shape, size or flower deviation. If you can note its location with a stake or flag you can return in late winter or early spring and dig the clump and you’ll have your own unique goldenrod. You’ll find that the basal rosettes are easily separated and will yield numerous divisions. Each division is planted again and every one will be an identical duplicate of the parent. This is the most basic form of cloning.

For goldenrod doubters, consider the place that these plants might have in your garden, wild or planned, along with the fall blooming asters. Many species of goldenrods can serve as tall specimen plants for the back of the border, where they will add color at a time when many other perennials have long since finished. It also makes a good cut flower. Arching sprays or globular flower clusters are a nice contrast to the larger daisy form. In fact, the flower is so typical of autumn, it is appropriately used with Indian corn and gourds for seasonal arrangements.

Next week, a closer look at the goldenrods, including specific varieties and a comprehensive Botanical Garden evaluation of more than 20 varieties. Keep growing.