Goldenrod a neglected gardening gem

I wonder, does anyone else have the same terrible habit I have?

Whenever I’m spending the weekend away from home, I pack most of my belongings in a suitcase and then spend the last five minutes running around, throwing odds and ends of things I think I’ll need into a brown paper bag. I think it must be a spinoff of what I used to do when moving to and from college. Back then, moving consisted of throwing all my possessions into several large plastic bags which then were thrown into the back of my truck. Later, they were trucked home and met with a very displeased look from my parents. They had taught me better; it was just that moving was one of those things I hated to do, and therefore the faster I did it, the less agony I had to endure.

Anyway, now that I have a home, a husband and a baby, I’d take moving back and forth to college any day. Don’t get me wrong — it’s not them that have a problem getting their things together and getting out of the house on time — it’s me. I usually pull something harebrained at the last minute like, well, like anything harebrained. And usually my harebrained ideas find their way into the brown paper bag.

Take last week for example, when we were leaving to visit friends. I decided at the last minute to cut a bouquet for our hostess. Normally this wouldn’t be such a stressful task, but when I got out to the tiny cutting garden in front of our house, I realized there weren’t enough flowers to fill a vase the size of a test tube. I ended up cutting some goldenrod near the edge of the woods in the back yard and a few flowers that sneaked from the neighbor’s garden through the fence to our yard.

The bouquet was arranged in a very classy vase (I think it was a used iced tea bottle), and placed in my all-purpose brown paper bag. Despite the minor casualty (spillage) that occurred as my husband negotiated a sharp bend at the speed of an Indy 500 driver, the bouquet survived two adults, a baby and many hearty Maine potholes.

When we arrived at our friend’s home, the real disaster occurred. As soon as I pulled the arrangement out of the bag, people started to flee the room. Our hostess ran away howling and covering her eyes and nose. Her husband told us that the goldenrod flowers make her have terrible asthma attacks and that she can barely even go out of the house during this time of year. Our hostess wouldn’t come back until the (guiltless, as it turns out) goldenrod was out of her house.

If you are not sure what goldenrod is, it’s the plant you so commonly see by the side of the road or in an overgrown pasture about this time of year. Even as you’re speeding by in the car, you won’t miss the plant’s feathery golden plumes and its tall upright growing habit. If you get a closeup view, you’ll see that the oppositely arranged leaves of the plant are long, thin and pointed at the tips. Though you are less likely to see goldenrod in a garden, there are some beautiful cultivars of the plant which have many admirable qualities and are gaining widespread popularity. It is easy to please culturally and produces a golden-orange flower that makes a beautiful cutting for a fresh bouquet as well as one that’s the perfect color for a dried fall arrangement.

Perhaps the plant would be more widely used in landscape plantings if it hadn’t been falsely accused of being responsible for causing hay fever. The plant is pollinated by insects, as it produces pollen much too large for wind pollination. Instead, it is the discrete green flowers of ragweed (which produces light airborne pollen) that is responsible for the discomfort of many asthma sufferers.

A member of the genus Solidago, goldenrod has a few uses beyond the garden. Its botanical name is a Latin word which means “to make whole.” This refers to the use of sweet goldenrod, Solidago odora, as a healing plant. Historically, teas made from the leaves were used as an astringent as well as a remedy for urinary ailments, such as kidney stones. An herbal reference will help you with the taxonomy of finding Solidago odora as well as necessary information about processing the leaves and appropriate dosages.

Plan on adding a goldenrod plant or two to your perennial border. They are a wonderful complement to fall-blooming chrysanthemums and asters. They do best in moderately fertile soil and full sun. Most are grown easily from seed and make a wonderful addition to any wildflower mixture.

Diana George Chapin of Veazie is the NEWS garden columnist.