Local eco group wants to restore goldenrod's reputation, says it's a valuable plant for pollinators

Goldenrod has developed a bad rap.

That's what James Bow says. He's the communications officer of the rare Charitable Research Reserve in Cambridge, which has launched a campaign to restore the reputation of the bright yellow fall plant.

"It has this long history of being blamed for hay fever," Bow said of allergy sufferers who have looked at the yellow fall plant and blamed it for their sneezing and watery eyes.

"But the pollen is not designed to get up people's noses. That's ragweed."

Bow says goldenrod is actually a really beneficial plant for pollinators in the fall.

"Goldenrod is one of the last flowers to really bloom and pollinate in this season. And so our native pollinator species like bumblebees really rely on goldenrod for their food," he said. 

Goldenrod needs an insect to land on it to get the pollen, he said. Meanwhile, ragweed has very small flowers and is a wind pollinator, meaning the pollen from the plant gets carried in the wind. 

So why do people mix them up? Bow says it's just because the two plants bloom at the same time.

"We see goldenrod, we see the yellow stuff, and we react to the ragweed. And so we put two and two together and come up with five," Bow said.

Goldenrod is 'right for every garden'

Bow says people could use goldenrod in their garden and the only reason some view it as a weed is because it "pops up wherever we don't want it."

But the City of Toronto's fact sheet called "Get to know Goldenrod" says the hardy, native plant is "right for every garden" and will grow in a wide range of conditions.

The city's fact sheet notes there are more than 25 species of goldenrod native to Ontario and more than 35 species of bees are "specialist feeders" on goldenrod pollen.

The Calgary Horticultural Society notes the flowers can be used in dry flower arrangements while master gardener Emma Murphy wrote on the Peterborough and Area Master Gardeners website that while it can be a "thug" in the garden "because it's very happy … and trying to take over the world" there are "benefits of this lovely plant, including acting as important nectar and pollen sources for many specialist pollinators and host plants for many moth and butterfly caterpillars."

Mapping pollinator gardens

The rare Charitable Research Reserve is also continuing work on a garden map project.

The goal of the 1,000 Gardens Project is to build a pollinator map along the Toronto to Waterloo region corridor. The reserve is asking people to sign up to have their gardens be part of the map.

Bow says there is just a little more than 850 gardens so far and they hope to hit 1,000 before the end of the year.

"We hope that by doing this, people will show to their neighbours that their garden is not just is not a collection of weeds and their goldenrod is not causing their neighbours to sneeze," Bow said.

As well, he says it "will encourage them to make more of their lawns into pollinator gardens, an oasis for our native pollinators, and a more biodiverse, healthier ecology in our cities."