Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries

Ep 125. Late-Season Bloomers-Glorious Goldenrod

• Mary Stone • Episode 125

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Late-season gardens can grow tired. Thankfully, there are late-season bloomers, many native plants I rely on to lift the drab and weedy. Glorious Goldenrod is among them. Despite rumors, they don't cause allergies and are not considered invasive by most authorities.

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More about the Podcast and Column:

Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.

It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.

Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
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Ep 125. Late-Season Bloomers -Glorious Goldenrod

Sun, Sep 10, 2023 4:39PM • 9:24

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

goldenrod, garden, native plants, list, plants, blooms, flowers, gardens, invasive, perennials, bad reputation, fall, late, fact, sun, mary, weed, squelch, dilemmas, mary stone, garden, nature, inspiration

SPEAKERS

Mary Stone

 

Mary Stone  00:00

Hello fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary stone and welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights and Discoveries. It's not only about gardens, it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about. 

 

Mary Stone  00:26

Hello there, it's Mary Stone on a very warm screened porch. It is evening time, I had to once again wait for the cicada chorus to subside. It is so warm, but it is still summer even though it's just after Labor Day when folks think the start of fall begins. In fact, I saw pumpkin stacked outside the market yesterday, baking in the sun. Oh my goodness. But along with the summer, late summer, comes the anticipation of fall flowering perennials that are actually already in bloom, and I look forward to sharing a story about those, especially one with an undeserved bad reputation. Shall I spill the beans on which one? Why not -  golden rod with Sunny fuzzy flowers in their glory this time of year.

 

Mary Stone  01:16

 But before we share that story, I'd like to thank those who reached back after last week's chat, Moths and Bats are Beautiful, too. There were many laughs after Curt's strategy to encourage the lone barn bat to move on. I guess he didn't like the pantyhose. Anyway, I adore watching them flitting about at dusk eating mosquitoes and gnats I call no-see-ums. Is there such a bug? No-see-ums?  Maybe a question to Ask Mary. 

 

Mary Stone  01:45

So on to this week's story about Goldenrod and other fall flowering beauties that starts like this. Hello fellow listeners and readers. As we approach the homestretch of the gardening season. Many gardens grow tired mine especially so as a poor thing suffer from neglect. Busy tending to other folks Gardens is my not so perfect excuse. Thankfully there are Late-season Bloomers I rely on to lift the drab and weedy.

 

Mary Stone  02:13

 Rising high is Joe Pye weed, eupatorium,  a tall native plant seen roadside in the sun or part shade that makes a beautiful backdrop. Eupatorium maculatum' Gateway,' commonly sold in nurseries, has volleyball sized purplish pink flowers, August through September, on top of five to seven foot maroon stems. They are so lovely blowing in the wind. Some say their prolific spreaders by self seeding. I prefer to say they're robust, especially in damp soil, plus butterflies and hummingbirds love them. 

 

Mary Stone  02:49

There's E. rugosum 'Chocolate' with burgundy foliage that blooms white. Smaller varieties of Joe Pye Weed, such as E. dubium' Little Joe', grow about four feet, and 'Baby Joe' only slightly over two. Another deer resistant Late Bloomer is ligularia also known as ragwort, mine is Britton, Marie Crawford, with large reddish brown glossy leaves and orange a yellow flowers, standing about three feet in part shade. She also prefers damp soil and blooms from August through September. 

 

Mary Stone  03:22

Each fall I marvel over the swamp sunflower Helianthus angustifolius, also called the narrowleaf sunflower with yellow Daisy like flowers. It's on my to do list to plant them. Many varieties stand a stay at least six feet or more, but first light stays only four feet. Swamp sunflower is another moist soil lover. The flowers best in full sun, though part sun and well-drained soil is fine with weekly watering. How about sun lovers like sneezeweed helenium, which looks like small red, yellow and orange coneflowers. Despite the common name sneezeweed doesn't make you sneeze. The same is true of Goldenrod solidago which has a bad reputation for causing allergies, but it's ragweed which is ambrosia and mugwort. Artemisia vulgaris to blame. In fact, there's a story long ago story titled Golden Rods Bad Reputation that explains the differences of all those so I'll put a link to that in the show notes and maybe at the end of this we'll have a little bit of time to talk about it further. 

 

Mary Stone  04:29

There's a 'fireworks' Goldenrod that stands about three to four feet tall and a 'Golden Fleece,' which is the one I have in my rock garden that I just adore-  a cute little 18 inches. Both are sturdy, non-invasive and full of brilliant yellow fall blooms. In fact, the 'Golden Fleece' one is semi-evergreen, so it becomes a wonderful ground cover that helps squelch up all my weeds. Very handy. The above-mentioned fall flowering perennials are the perfect additions for weary gardeners looking to pump up full color in their tired gardens. That would be me. Smiley face. Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary stone.com. 

 

Mary Stone  05:11

After I wrote this story, Mike Niven, a high school buddy naturalist and bird photographer who lives in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, asked Is Goldenrod an aggressive grower that can push out other species? And is it invasive in certain situations? Mike sent an article by Chris Helzer of the Nature Conservancy in Nebraska that explained although Goldenrod is valuable to pollinators, there are places where it has squelched out favorable prairie grasses. But here's what else I dug up, Mike.

 

Mary Stone  05:42

 The New Jersey Beekeepers Association lists Goldenrod as a pollen source favored by bees from late August to early October. However, the University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species (invasive.org) lists the Canadian Goldenrod, solidago canadensis, the one you see around the streets here, and giant Goldenrod solidago Gigantia as invasive. Though both are native to the United States, it never occurred to me that native plants could be considered invasive. That is so interesting. And as I learned more, there's some controversy about that. 

 

Mary Stone  06:21

Goldenrod is on many lists as a favorable plant for pollinators and erosion control. The New Jersey Audubon Society does not have Goldenrod on its invasive plant list, nor does the New Jersey invasive species strike team. The same is true of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which writes, "Invasive plants are those that are not native to an area spread quickly and cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health." How can my fuzzy favorite cause any harm? 

 

Mary Stone  06:53

Then there's the Penn State's extensions list of recommended native plants for perennial gardens, which includes the Showy Goldenrod and Rutgers University Cooperative Extension has Gray Goldenrod as a native plant to include in your garden. So in the show notes, there will be a link to the column that will have links to those stories and those lovely plants, I hope you look through it, it is such a joy to look at all these beautiful plants. 

 

Mary Stone  07:17

So rather than invasive. Think of Goldenrod is opportunistic was a headline in this story. In fact, the USDA maintains a list of federally recognized noxious weeds. For the federal Plant Protection Act. They're "plants that can injure or cause damage to crops, including nursery stock, livestock, poultry, or other agriculture, natural resources of the United States, public health or the environment,' and Goldenrod is not on their list. However, they define opportunistic native plants as "those able to take advantage of disturbance to the soil or existing vegetation to spread quickly and outcompete other plants on the disturbed site."

 

Mary Stone  08:01

 I agree Goldenrod can be opportunistic, but you can't blame the beauty. And while it seems true that there may be too much of a good thing, essential pollinators including are at risk honey bees don't think so. Garden Dilemmas, AskMary Stone.com. 

 

Mary Stone  08:21

So anyway, it was fun to visit these old stories and combine them together and as I witnessed the Goldenrods sunny little presents along the road in my rock garden squelcing out my late season weeds. They bring me such happiness, as does our visit each week on the screen porch. I so enjoy our time together and I hope you've had as well and if so, please share the podcast with a friend or two so more can join us and learning and growing in the garden of life. Thanks so much. See you next time on the screen porch. 

 

Mary Stone  08:53

You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden Dilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag Mary Elaine Stone. Garden Dilemmas, Delights and Discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch. And always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.