NEWS RELEASE
RARE CHARITABLE RESEARCH RESERVE
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Goldenrod is a colourful flowering plant that has often been misidentified as an allergen. These fall flowering plants, which are related to sunflowers, are a source of food for native pollinators at the end of the season. They can also enrich their soil with nitrogen, making them valuable to local ecosystems and pollinator gardens.
“Unfortunately, goldenrod has an unearned reputation for being the cause of allergies and hay fever,” says James Bow, Communications Officer for the rare Charitable Research Reserve. “The blame lies with ragweed, which blooms at the same time but is far less visible.” Ragweed is also a native plant in southern Ontario, with seeds that can be important to wildlife, particularly birds. However, it produces large amounts of pollen that are carried on the wind.
“Goldenrod needs insects to pollinate,” says Tom Woodcock, Planning Ecologist at rare. “The pollen is heavy and sticky, and it is produced in much smaller quantities that are not carried on the wind.” In contrast, ragweed relies on the wind to pollinate; its minuscule, lightweight pollen is adapted to float in the wind for miles, making it easy to get up your nose.
The rare Charitable Research Reserve runs the 1,000 Gardens Project, encouraging people to grow pollinator gardens with plants that are friendly to native pollinators. “Our monoculture lawns are deserts to native pollinators,” says Aleksandra Dolezal, Conservation Scientist, Research Priorities, Partnerships & Monitoring at rare. “This threatens their health and the health of the plants that rely on them for pollination. Planting pollinator-friendly plants like goldenrod, black-eyed Susan, or wild bergamot in our gardens, even in our window planters, can help our bees and make a beautiful, colourful garden.”
“Goldenrod is one of the last of these native plants to bloom during the growing season,” Dolezal adds. “Keeping goldenrod around helps pollinators when they most need it.”
People can register their pollinator gardens with the 1,000 Gardens Project at raresites.org/rares-1000-gardens/ and get their garden put on a map. Over 850 gardens have signed up throughout southern Ontario. Registrants can also purchase a sign saying “This is a Pollinator Garden” to display in their garden. “One sign owner suggested that we produce another sign that said, ‘Goldenrod is not ragweed’,” says Bow.
“This program raises awareness,” he adds. “It tells our neighbours that these plants have their place here and are doing the environment a ton of good. We hope it will convince municipalities to enact more pollinator-friendly policies.”
“We hope that each new garden we register encourages others to make the change and put their garden on the map,” says Stephanie Sobek-Swant, Executive Director at rare. “Once we get to 1,000 gardens across Ontario, our plan is to take this national, creating a Trans Canada Pollinator Highway. Imagine a chain of pollinator gardens stretching from Halifax to Victoria, acting as vital oases for our bees and other native pollinators.”
The rare Charitable Research Reserve is a community-driven urban land trust and environmental institute protecting over 1,200 acres of environmentally sensitive lands across Waterloo Region and Wellington County while engaging the community to take local action toward mitigating the global climate crisis. The organization runs research and education programs and maintains over 12 kilometres of trails to foster an appreciation of these lands and their importance to the health and well-being of the surrounding community and the generations to follow.
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