Blue Stemmed Goldenrod

Solidago caesia

Blue-Stemmed Goldenrod, also commonly referred to as Wreath Goldenrod , has graceful arching stems that are studded with bright yellow flowers all the way up the stem contributing a pop or colour and interesting visual texture to your shade garden. This variety of goldenrod is quite nice if you are looking for a ‘tidier’ garden plant as is only grows to about 3’ tall and stays in well behaved clumps.

Goldenrods are crucial to our end of season pollinators as a food source when most other native plants have begun to shut down for their winter sleep. Unfortunately, Goldenrods have been blamed for hay fever since some varieties (such as Canadian Goldenrod) are so visually prominent with their bright yellow flowers lining roadsides. The truth is, goldenrod has sticky heavy pollen, which wants to attach to our pollinators, making it not an air-born pollen. While goldenrod allergy is possible, you would need to actually brush up against the plant to have the pollen transferred to you. The true culprit for seasonal Hay Fever is actually Common Ragweed which has light pollen designed for maximum air dispersal and gets all suck up your sinuses. It does not have showy colour so it often gets overlooked, but its extremely common, especially in urban areas.