These days of progressively shorter daylight, goldenrod is along any trail which is exposed to the sun.
Some blooms are past their prime now, having grown to maturity last month. Others are mid bloom.
They fill fields as well,
like the fields near the top entrance of the Bonshaw Hills Park.
The yellow fields of goldenrod are alive. Crickets are busy courting as we walk to and from the parking lot. There must be millions of them in this area, a symphony of male voices demanding the attention of anyone who happens by. They only have eyes for the female crickets.
Goldenrod is a type of aster. Along the paths, traditional asters grow amid the gold, a beautiful mix of yellow with pale violet or white.
The plants are tall as well, in some places, waist high.
The golden girl amid the goldenrod
Some cultures consider goldenrod good luck. In other countries, the plant is considered an invasive species. In traditional medicine, it is used to treat kidney infections or stones. The flowers are edible and can be used to garnish salads, or dried or fresh can make tea. The leaves can be used like spinach.
For all its versatility, I like the esthetic value of the goldenrod best. Besides, where would the crickets go courting?
22 comments:
Beautiful and very useful. Love this post. Enjoy the coming week, Diane
If only it didn't make me sneeze, I'd love it, too. Your pictures are lovely. :-)
STUNNING!!!!! And how I appreciate all my blogging buddies bringing fall to me as we rarely get anything that resembles fall here on the beach in California.
awwww, beautiful goldenrod!!! in our area, it is planted along the sand dunes at the beach, the monarchs follow it when they migrate!!
The goldenrod is beautiful and has a lot of good uses. Love seeing the golden dog walking along the path. She looks at home there.
A beautiful golden view! We always had golden rod in the garden when I was a child. We had it in our first garden but it became such a weed that we stopped growing it. Having fields full of it must be amazing sight! Sarah x
Golden glory. Love that photo with the golden grand-dog too.
Crickets can have the goldenrod. I stay away.
Very pretty this time of year!
Beautiful goldenrod! I didn't know they were from the aster family...good to know! I'm hoping to get more of both in my backyard woods...I have a couple that popped up this year (probably from the birdfeeder birds). Your preserves look so nice! Andrea
I like all of this. Thank you.
I always heard that goldenrod caused allergies in some people but read recently that it's ragweed that causes the problems - they bloom at the same time but only ragweed is spread by breezes. It is pollinated by dispersal whereas goldenrod is pollinated by insects and doesn't release its pollen in the same way. It's an interesting distinction! I was glad to learn that, because I'm sensitive to various things, and always found it beautiful but avoided it. The photos are beautiful; I especially like the one with the granddog in it :D
: ))) I agree... let them be!
That field of Goldenrod is beautiful. That is interesting what Jenny said above about the allergy and means of delivery. My allergies are so so bad but I truly believe its from the poison released into the air. So unless I started sneezing, I would have loved to walk through that field of gold.
Always enjoy your knowledge of the flora around you Marie! Such a beautiful time of year to explore!
The goldenrod is very pretty. It definitely looks like fall in those pictures.
What you call asters, I call Michaelmas daisies, and as you probably know, last Saturday was Michaelmas day.
Very nice pictures - we are having our first spell of spring-like weather here - I even waded in the sea last week!
Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
gorgeous fall photos!
SO pretty!! Love the photo of the grand dog amid the goldenrod.
Not only gorgeous yellow but so useful too Marie! Love the shot of Georgie trotting through the goldenrod 💐
I like goldenrod, which is not an allergy inducer. That's ragweed, a contemporary of goldenrod as jenny-o says above.
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