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. 58 THE RURAL VOICE
Gardening
A `weed' that's a thing of beauty
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
Glorious September dressed in
brilliant golds and yellows and
splashes of crimson and burgundy. I
have an abundance of Michaelmas
daisies or fall asters waving from the
east garden. Setting them off is a
robust clump of goldenrod.
I remember my father disdainfully
keeping the goldenrod cut along the
laneway. It was a very vibrant weed
not to be tolerated. But who can deny
that goldenrod is not a hardy, electric
addition to the perennial border.
I always admired the great stands
of goldenrod around the countryside
when it starts to light up the ditches
and fence lines with drapes of yellow
and gold. In Germany I noticed
that goldenrod or Solidago
was given a place of
honour in the gardens 4
and a number of newer
varieties were covetedsr
among gardeners.
Generally
speaking the older
kinds of solidago
are weedy plants.
Gardens left to
themselves are
easily taken over as
goldenrod is a
prolific seed
producer and also
spreads laterally by
underground stolons.
There have been a
number of newer
hybrids developed in
North America over the
years that lack the weedy
nature and are much less
spreading in habit.
Goldenrod is a very sturdy plant
with long narrow leaves and stiff
stems that need little if any staking.
The heads are made up of clouds of
small daisy flowers which bloom
from August to October. These later
turn into fluffy masses of seed heads.
They range in height from 15 inches
to six feet all with flowers in the
yellow range although there is a good
difference in colour between one kind
and another.
I started with one clump discretely
planted in the back of the border
behind the deep purple butterfly bush.
What a pair they make in September!
But before long I had goldenrod in
several gardens around the house and
now I find myself spudding it out in
the spring. Despite that, it is well
worth the effort to keep it within the
confines of our garden.
If you need to share it you can
divide the clumps easily enough in
spring and they prefer a soil not too
rich.
For some unknown reason golden
rod is often confused with ragweed.
Ragweed pollen is the most important
cause of hay fever in August and
September. Unlike goldenrod pollen
which is heavy and transported
by insects, ragweed pollen is
produced by the cloud full
and distributed to your
nose and mine through
• the air.
a
Ambrosia
artemisiifolia. What a
lovely Latin name for
a colourless but
dangerous plant. The
leaves of common
; ragweed are deeply
dissected and
attractive but the
flowers are small,
green and
inconspicuous. I have
always been a firm
believer that there are
some so-called weeds
that you should let
flourish in a back corner to
fulfill what mother nature
meant them to do. There are
butterflies, insects and birds that rely
on specialized plant material. But
when it comes to ragweed you would
do well to pull this particular weed
promptly from the garden, and from
those back corners too. Hayfever is
no laughing matter and we should do
what we can to relieve some of the
suffering. So plant your goldenrod
and pull that ragweed.0
Rhea Hamilton -Seeger and her
husband raise two children at their
home near Auburn. She is a skilled
cook and gardener.