Canada Goldenrod

We have moved from the season of flowers and fertility to the season of sleep and stagnation. In fields at the forest edge in Chittenden county VT what once was a carpet of yellow punctuated by purples and pinks is now a haze of brown. The carpet of yellow flowers have dried, leaving behind their seasonal work - the seeds of the next generation. I can still, months later, recall the bright and joyful flower heads of the goldenrod.

As we look to the seed-heads of the goldenrod in winter, we may ask ourselves - as David Byrne does - How did I get here? Let us rewind to the time of the flowers.

Here in the Northeast of what is now called America the goldenrod has been flowering for as long as humans have encountered this land. There are over 69 species of goldenrod that call this place home. Each has a slightly different interpretation of leaf shape, root structure, flower structure and flowering time and all belong to the same plant family, Asteraceae. Among all the species of goldenrods we find

plants that live in fields, forests, prairies, swamps, bogs, urban sites and the seaside. Thriving in the specifics of those particular environments. The focus today will be on Canada goldenrod; Solidago canadensis.

The flowering time for goldenrod is from late summer to mid autumn, this is when the action happens. The plant has worked hard since spring to gain the energy required to bloom the beautiful buds. Energy from the sun’s rays is soaked up by the leaves and transformed into food for the plant. The roots, which are branching rhizomes able to form large goldenrod colonies, drink water and soak up essential macro and micro nutrients from the soil. Thriving in place Canada goldenrod has all it needs to create its beautiful flowers. The flowers are small and yellow and are arranged along a plume-like structure at the top of the stem, giving the appearance from far away of one large yellow flower. The plants’ purpose of the flowers is not for our enjoyment but as a production site for the seeds of the future. The goldenrod does not work alone, and the symbiosis that occurs in those fields to create the seeds of the future is a marvel in compromise, togetherness and joy.

Precious energy is used to create nectar nestled deep inside the flowers that is given as an offering to honeybees, bumblebees, beetles and butterflies. Over much time these species of plant and insect have developed a symbiotic relationship. A win-win in which the insects get nourishment from the nectar and the plants have their pollen spread amongst their population on the backs of those insects. When the pollen of one flower is transported to the pistil of another, fertilization occurs and a seed is formed. The seed is equipped with tiny hairs that allow it to float on the wind to spread the joy to farther fields.

When the sole purpose of being is to uplift life, life becomes beautiful in its simplicity.