To complement all the blue and purple flowers around the pond this week, the Goldenrod has unfurled its blooms. Solidago species, commonly called Goldenrods, are in a genus of more than 100 species of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae.
Goldenrods are often blamed for allergies, but they have sticky pollen and rely on insects to move most of it. The wind borne pollen of ragweeds and pigweeds are to blame for 'hay fever' in late summer.
These plants are habitat for a large number of insect species. Blooming in late summer, they are a critical nectar source for many bees, butterflies, and moths to fortify themselves before freezing weather comes.
