One of the things we look forward to as fall approaches is the goldenrod blooming. The bees and butterflies clearly appreciate the explosion of pretty little yellow blooms as well. There is one small plant that grows outside one of our windows. We cherish it and don’t treat it as a weed. The picture above is of a larger cluster of goldenrod in a bed in our backyard. Unfortunately, as showy as it is, it gets blamed for the crimes of some other plants.
Goldenrod is related to asters and is appreciated as a garden plant in some other countries. Here it has the misfortune of blooming at the same time as ragweed, a plant with insignificant flowers that produce large quantities of wind-blown pollen. Goldenrod pollen is heavy and sticky, it depends on insects to be transported between blooms.
Goldenrod is only a weed if it is growing where you want something else to be.