The Goldenrod Gold Rush

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Welcome back to Secret Pollinators, the podcast that reveals

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the hidden heroes keeping our world in bloom. I'm your host,

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Kelly from Montana. Today we're diving into what

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might be the most misunderstood plant in North America and

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the absolute pollinator paradise it creates every

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fall. Picture this. It's late August, early September.

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While most of your garden flowers are fading, suddenly, the roadsides

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and wild spaces explode in brilliant gold.

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Fields that were green just a few days ago are now painted in

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sunshine yellow. And if you get close enough to listen,

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you'll hear something that sounds like a stadium

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crowd. That's not wind, and it's not

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your imagination. That's hundreds and sometimes

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thousands of pollinators staging the greatest feeding

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frenzy of the entire year.

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Beetles, butterflies, bees,

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flies, wasps. Everyone shows up for this party

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and the host, the plant that everyone blames for their

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fall allergies. And including me. But that actually might be

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the most important pollinator resource on the continent.

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This is episode 10, the Goldenrod Gold Rush, and you're

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about to discover why this golden wildflower is worth its

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weight. Well, in gold,

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the great allergy mythology.

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Let's get this out of the way right now, because it's the biggest botanical

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injustice in North America. Goldenrod does not

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cause your fall allergies. And I know this from

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personal experience, because for years and years and

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years, I thought I was allergic to goldenrod.

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Every September, like clockwork,

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the sneezing would start. Itchy eyes,

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congestion, you know, the whole miserable package. And every

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September, those golden fields would light up the roadsides.

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So naturally, I blamed the bright yellow plant I could actually

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see. It Made perfect sense, right?

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Wrong. It wasn't until I started learning about native pollinators

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and native plants that I discovered the truth.

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I'd been blaming an innocent plant for years.

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The real culprit? Ragweed. Small green,

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boring ragweed that was growing right next to the goldenrod

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the whole time. Here's what's happening.

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Both goldenrod and ragweed bloom at exactly the same

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time in late summer and fall. Golden gold goldenrod is

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gorgeous. Bright yellow, showy,

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impossible to miss. Ragweed is

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small, green, inconspicuous, and grows

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in the same places. So when people start sneezing

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in September and they look around and see bright yellow goldenrod

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everywhere, like I did, case closed, right?

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Here's the science. Goldenrod pollen is

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heavy, sticky, and designed to be carried by insects.

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It physically cannot become airborne in the quantities needed

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to cause allergies. Ragweed pollen, on the

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other hand, is tiny, light, and specifically

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evolved to travel on the Wind. A single ragweed

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plant can produce a billion pollen grains that can travel hundreds

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of miles. When I finally understood this,

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I decided to get allergy testing. And sure enough,

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the results confirmed it. No goldenrod allergy,

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but ragweed, highly allergic.

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There it was in black and white and years of blaming the wrong

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plant. Sorry, goldenrod.

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The pollen making you sneeze is invisible and everywhere. The golden

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rod you're blaming is actually helping your ecosystem by feeding thousands

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of pollinators. It's like blaming the ambulance for the accident.

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They're both present, but one is actually there to help.

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I felt terrible when I realized what I'd been doing.

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I'd been vilifying this incredible native plant that was supporting

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so much wildlife. And all because it had the audacity to

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be visible, while ragweed committed its crimes in anonymity.

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So every time you see goldenrod and think,

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that's making me sneeze, remember, you're looking

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at one of the most important wildlife resources in your region, while the actual

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culprit is literally standing right next to it.

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The goldenrod bloom phenomenon. Now let's

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talk about why goldenrod is so incredibly important.

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In most temperate regions, goldenrod represents the last major

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nectar and pollen source before winter. And when I say major,

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I mean absolutely massive. We're talking about

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a plant that can produce flowers for four to six weeks straight during

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a time when almost everything else has finished blooming.

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There are over 120 species of goldenrod in North

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America, and they bloom in succession from late July through

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October, depending on your region and elevation. This means that

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when one goldenrod species finishes, another is just

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getting started. It's like a relay race of golden abundance.

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Abundance and the flowers themselves are

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pollinator engineering masterpieces. Each of those bright

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yellow plumes you see is actually made up of hundreds of tiny

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individual flowers, each producing nectar and

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pollen. A single goldenrod plant might have thousands

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of individual flowers, and a goldenrod patch might have

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millions. For pollinators preparing for

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winter, this is like discovering a Las Vegas buffet

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in the middle of the desert. Bees need to pack on weight and

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store provisions for winter. Butterflies migrating south need fuel

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for their journeys. And late season pollinators need energy

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to complete their life cycles. All goldenrod provides all

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of this in abundance. It's really incredible.

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Research shows that goldenrod can support over 100 different species

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of native bees, plus countless butterflies,

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beetles, flies and other pollinators.

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In late summer and fall, goldenrod patches can host more

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pollinator diversity than any other plant in the

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landscape. It's not just A food source.

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It's the food source, the all you can eat buffet that

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keeps the entire pollinator communities alive.

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The specialist gold miners. Now here's

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where goldenrod gets really interesting.

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While most pollinators treat goldenrod like a convenient restaurant,

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some bees have become such goldenrod specialists

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that they've literally evolved their entire life cycles around it.

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Meet the goldenrod specialists.

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Bees that have put all their evolutionary eggs literally

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in one golden basket. Take the appropriately

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named goldenrod cellophane bee.

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This bee emerges in late summer for one reason

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only, goldenrod. The females

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time their emergence perfectly with goldenrod bloom. They collect

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only goldenrod pollen and provision their nests exclusively

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with goldenrod resources. If goldenrod doesn't

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bloom, their entire generation fails.

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These specialists often look different from other bees in

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the family. They've evolved longer tongues,

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perfectly sized for goldenrod flower depths. Their pollen

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collecting hairs match goldenrod pollen size.

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Their flight season compresses into a narrow window

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matching peak goldenrod bloom.

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They're so specialized that some goldenrod bee

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species only visit one to two goldenrod species

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out of the entire 120 available.

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And it's not just one species. There are dozens

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of goldenrod specialist bees across North America.

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The goldenrod soldier beetle times

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its entire adult life stage to goldenrod bloom.

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Certain hoverfly species specifically

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work goldenrod flowers. This level of specialization

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means that when we remove goldenrod from our landscapes,

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when we mow it down as a weed or blame it for allergies,

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we're not just removing a pretty flower. We're potentially

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eliminating the only food source for an entire bee species.

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We're breaking evolutionary partnerships that took

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thousands of years to develop. These specialist

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pollinators are like gold miners during the California gold rush.

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They've traveled here for only one thing. They've specialized

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all their tools for extracting it. And if the gold runs

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out, they're finished. Except the

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gold is actually goldenrod and the miners are bees.

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The monarch migration lifeline.

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Let's talk about the most famous goldenrod visitors.

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Monarch butterflies. For monarchs making their incredible

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journey from Canada and the northern United States to Mexico,

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which is a journey of up to like 3,000 miles.

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Goldenrod represents critical fueling stations along their

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route. Think about what monarchs need

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to accomplish. I never really thought about it before, but they need to gain

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enough weight to survive a multi week journey.

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They need enough energy to fly hundreds of miles without stopping.

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They need to arrive in Mexico with sufficient fat reserves

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to survive the entire winter without eating. This is

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like trying to bulk up for a marathon while actually running the

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marathon. Goldenrod blooms along

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the entire monarch migration route at exactly the time monarchs are

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traveling south. It's like someone strategically placed gas

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stations. Every 50 miles along a highway, Monarchs stop

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at goldenrod patches, tank up on high energy nectar

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and continue their journey. Research using tracking

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technology has shown that monarchs with access to abundant goldenrod

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populations have higher survival rates and arrive in Mexico in

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better condition than monarchs without goldenrod recess access

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resources. Oh, my gosh. Sorry.

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Some researchers estimate that goldenrod availability might

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influence whether individual monarchs successfully complete migration.

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But it's not just monarchs. Red admiral butterflies,

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Painted ladies, Common buckeyes,

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clouded sulfurs. Dozens of butterfly species use

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goldenrod as a critical fall nectar source. Many of these are also

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long distant migrants. But others are just trying to squeeze

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in one last generation before winter. When you protect

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goldenrod habitat, you're not just helping local pollinators,

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you're supporting continental scale migration patterns.

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You're providing fuel for journeys that span thousands of miles.

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You're helping insects accomplish some of the most remarkable navigational

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and endurance feats in the natural world.

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That roadside patch of goldenrod you drive past,

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it might be the difference between a monarch reaching Mexico or

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not. The goldenrod guild.

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Now let's talk about the sheer diversity of the goldenrod pollinator

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party. This isn't just bees and butterflies.

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Goldenrod attracts one of the most diverse insect assemblages

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you'll find anywhere. Bees first.

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Bumblebees. Both spring species finishing their life

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cycles and fall species just getting started. Work goldenrod

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intensively. Sweat bees, mining bees,

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leaf cutter bees, mason bees. Basically, if it's a bee,

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it visits goldenrod butterflies next.

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Monarchs get the headlines. But goldenrod hosts

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crescents, checkerspots, sulfurs, blues skippers.

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The full butterfly diversity of fall.

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On a good day, you might count up to 20 butterfly species

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on a single goldenrod patch. And then the beetles.

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Soldier beetles, tumbling flower beetles, blister beetles.

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They're eating pollen, hunting prey and accidentally pollinating while

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going about their business. Some beetles use goldenrod flowers as

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mating grounds and others just like the free buffet.

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And then the flies show up. Hoverflies,

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bee flies, even mosquitoes and midges visit goldenrod.

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Many are excellent pollinators, all at transferring pollen

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while feeding. And the wasps.

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Paper wasps, yes. Yellow jackets,

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mud daubers, spider wasps. They're collecting

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nectar to field their final generation of the year. Many are

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also hunting other insects on goldenrod, providing a natural pest

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control. So stand in a goldenrod

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patch on a sunny October and

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you're standing in one of the most biologically diverse Ecosystems in North

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America. More species, more individuals,

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more interactions per square foot than almost anywhere else

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in the landscape. This is very valuable real estate.

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And this isn't just a flower. It's a community hub,

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a meeting place, a resource concentration that draws

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together the full diversity of pollinating insects for one last

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golden celebration before winter.

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The conservation gold mine.

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Here's the conservation angle that makes goldenrod absolutely critical.

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It's easy. Goldenrod is one

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of the lowest maintenance, highest impact plants you can establish for pollinator

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conservation. First, it's native.

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Across most of North America, various goldenrod species grow

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naturally in zones three through nine, which covers pretty much the entire

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continental United States and most of Canada.

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You're not including anything exotic. You're restoring

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what was already there, and that's important.

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Second, it's tough. Goldenrod grows in

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poor soil, drought conditions, full sun,

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partial shade, wetlands, prairies,

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roadsides, disturbed areas, basically anywhere.

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And it's nearly impossible to kill.

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If you want to establish goldenrod, fall is actually the perfect

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time to plant seeds. Goldenrod seeds need cold stratification,

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that period of cold conditions that breaks their dormancy.

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When you plant seeds in the fall, winter naturally provides that cold

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treatment. And then they'll germinate in the spring. When conditions are ripe,

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just scatter seeds on soil, press them lightly into contact

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with the ground, and let nature do the rest.

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You can also plant container grown plants in the spring or fall,

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but direct seeding in autumn often works beautifully

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and costs almost nothing. Third,

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it spreads. Once established,

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goldenrod forms persistent colonies that

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expand gradually through rhizomes and self seeding. Plant it

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once and you've created a pollinator habitat that will function for

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decades with zero maintenance. And fourth,

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it's beautiful. Unlike some native plants that

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look weedy, goldenrod is show stopping. That bright

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yellow display catches attention, and it helps people understand that

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native plants can be gorgeous. Conservation organizations

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are increasingly focusing on goldenrod restoration.

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Highway departments are establishing goldenrod strips along roadways.

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Community groups are converting unused fields into goldenrod meadows.

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Every goldenrod plant you establish is a pollinator gas

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station that will operate for decades.

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The golden opportunity. So here's

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what we've learned. The plant that everyone blames

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for allergies is actually innocent.

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The weed people mowed down is one of our most valuable

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wildlife resources. And those golden flowers blazing

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across fall fields are hosting some of the most important ecological

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interactions of the entire year. The next

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time you see goldenrod lighting up a roadside or a field, don't think weeds

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or allergies, think gold rush,

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because that's exactly what's happening. Hundreds of pollinators

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are rushing to claim their stake in the most valuable late season resource

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available. And maybe this fall you'll

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let that goldenrod in your garden grow. Let it bloom.

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Let it host the party. In a world where pollinators

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face increasing challenges, sometimes the most important

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thing we can do is is recognize the golden opportunities

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that were hiding in plain sight all along.

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The Goldenrod Challenge. Alright, it's that time

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again. Here's your mission if you choose to accept it.

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Find goldenrod. And I promise it's easier than you think.

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And spend a few minutes observing a goldenrod patch.

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Count how many different types of pollinators you can identify.

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Bees, butterflies, beetles, flies, wasps.

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You'll see incredible diversity in one

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place. And be sure to share your goldenrod visitors

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on our Facebook page. Secret Pollinators Using

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Secret Pollinators and GoldenGoldRush.

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And if you're feeling really bold, take a photo of

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goldenrod and ragweed growing side by side. Help us

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bust the allergy myth once and for all. Share those comparison

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photos with GoldenRodTruth and

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let's educate people about which plant is really responsible for

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the fall sneezes. And if you have space and

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it's appropriate for your region, consider establishing a goldenrod

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patch this fall. Whether it's scattering seeds

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in a corner of your yard, or protecting an existing

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stand from the mower, or planting seeds in a flower

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pot, you're creating pollinator infrastructure

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that will function for decades.

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And please remember if you can, to leave

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me a review on your podcast platform if this episode changed

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how you see that goldenrod plant you've been ignoring

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or wrongly blaming. Like me, every review helps

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other people discover the secret pollinators and the golden opportunities

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all around us. And next this

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week, we're uncovering the butterfly deception,

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the surprising truth about these beloved pollinators

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and why everything you think you know about butterflies might be

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wrong. We'll explore which butterflies

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are actually the pollination powerhouses, which ones

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are just the pretty freeloaders, and why some of our most important

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butterfly pollinators. Pollinators are the ones nobody

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notices. Until then,

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keep watching for the secret pollinators. They're swarming

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that golden plant everyone told you was causing allergies.

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They're fueling up for incredible journeys and staging

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the greatest feeding frenzy of the year.

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I'm Kelly from Montana, and this has been the Secret Pollinators

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podcast. Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

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And remember, the truth is blooming in golden

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abundance. You just need to stop blaming it for

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what Ragweed did.