Plant · P-137

Canada Goldenrod

Solidago canadensis

Canada Goldenrod is what carries a hive into winter - it opens in August after almost everything else has quit and keeps blooming into October, drawing bees so heavily that beekeepers sell the honey as a single-flower variety with a sharp, spicy taste. It spreads hard by rhizome, about a foot a year, and its roots release chemicals that stop other plants germinating nearby, so it wants a dedicated patch or field edge rather than a bed or garden. Despite its reputation, it isn't the plant behind hay fever - that's ragweed, blooming at the same time with far less showy flowers. The surprise is the predatory wasps that hunt its late flowers, which makes this as much a pest-control plant as a nectar one.