THE GOLDENROD MYTH

You may have noticed a large number of goldenrods on the plant list. For those of you who still believe the myth that goldenrod causes hay fever, it doesn’t. They don’t call it goldenrod fever! Showy flowers like goldenrod, have large pollen grains requiring pollinators to move it around. Unfortunately, Ragweed flowers at the same time, but goes unnoticed because the flowers are small and green, and they produce tiny grains of windborn pollen.

I’m sure the person that started that mythos is long gone, but whoever it was gave a great plant a bad reputation.

Goldenrod has been used medicinally for a very long time, and in the eyes of our pollinators, it is one of the most sought out plants in the landscape.

With so many different species of goldenrod, there are multiple choices for different habitats. Sunny fields are nice, but many thrive in much shadier locations.