Goldenrod
September 22, 2009, 9:43 pm
The curtain came down today at 4:19PM CDT. Summer has bowed out; Autumn begins its reign.
My husband and I agree on almost everything from politics to the horrors of oatmeal. One glaring exception is goldenrod. He hates it; I love it.
“It’s coarse and ugly,” he says.
I suspect another dimension to his distaste of this plant. My husband’s favorite season is summer. Yellowing goldenrod is a harbinger of fall. He wants to shoot the messenger.
Every spring I must wage a campaign to save the sprouting goldenrod. I’ll capitulate and let him tear up a few stalks that are trespassing in the daylilies or pampas grass. He will be kind and leave large, sprouting swathes untouched.
As I look out onto our yard now, the goldenrod is waving like amber surf. And everywhere I drive, the roadsides are shimmering. Alongside the roads, the goldenrod teams up with huge stands of lavender-topped Joe Pye Weed and royal purple asters. Soon the sumac will turn brilliant crimson and join the party.
Summer may be dying, but its last act is sheer brilliance.
5 Comments for this entry
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Greetings and welcome...
The Suitcase Lady Blog is now in its fourteenth year. I am obviously a believer in these words from E. B. White. "We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry." Thank you for reading the writing that I delight in doing.
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September 23rd, 2009 on 10:22 AM
love golden rod, in spite of the fact that I am allergic to the pollen. did you notice it in my yard?
September 25th, 2009 on 5:09 PM
I like goldenrod and its coarse texture contrasts to the delicate Queen Anne’s Lace. My purist friends however decry it as a non-native.
September 25th, 2009 on 7:44 PM
Your purist friends are wrong! Goldenrod is a native plant in North America. Tell them to pick on another plant….say, tulips, hibiscus or poppies for example.
September 25th, 2009 on 10:47 PM
If I remember correctly from your previous blog, you live along the shore…and if you are in the general area that I think you are, I drove past your place the last two mornings. And will again the next two mornings before heading north and west. My mom, from Cleve…is now residing in Man-town. We are staying just east of the tavern that is closest to the lake.
September 26th, 2009 on 7:49 PM
Our house has the 7 foot tall bird with barbells in his wings sculpture in the front yard! Stop over!