Canada Goldenrod
You know that we must all learn from our mistakes. Well, I have made some doozies during my years as a gardener. I am not very proud of them, but I certainly have learned many lessons from my garden gaffes. Because I apparently have no pride, I will share a few with you so that you do not repeat the mistakes that I have made.
Do not assume that a plant is a native just because it is growing and thriving in the wild in our region. A friend gifted me with pods from a “really cool looking” plant growing along the marsh. It had yellow flowers and large rounded leaves and I loved the look. I planted it in our community butterfly garden. Big mistake. If I had done my homework, I would have found out that this plant, known as rattlebox (Crotalaria spectabilis), is a native of India and had been mistakenly brought to our country as a cover crop to bring nitrogen into the soil. It was later discovered that it is extremely aggressive and is toxic to animals. It has escaped into the wild and is now considered invasive in many states. Bad me. I spent three days pulling it all out and I am sure that I still have not eradicated the seeds.
Even good plants in the wrong place can be a mistake. I love Confederate Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides). The lovely scent of those tiny white flowers is so pleasant and the bees love it. I made the mistake of planting it on the lattice around my deck. It grew up through the deck and started to strangle our gas grill. My husband had to practically take a machete to grill burgers. It is a wonderful plant, but plant it where it can grow wild and free on a fence or trellis away from harm’s way.
And speaking of gaffes, my very favorite historical gaffe has to be the Vasa. The Vasa is a well preserved 17th century “battleship” now in its own museum in Stockholm, Sweden. I took one look at this ship and said to myself or anyone around me, “How did they ever think that this thing could possibly float?” It is very very tall and very very narrow. But on August 10, 1628, amidst much fanfare and with thousands watching, the Vasa was launched and sailed a very short distance from the shore before it tipped over and sank to the bottom of the harbor. The Vasa was salvaged and restored in 1961and now stands as a testament to poor engineering.
Another very common gardening gaffe is to place shade plants in the sun and plants that need sun in too much shade. A friend of mine was moaning the other day about how her roses were not blooming. I knew that her yard was very shaded. These poor plants were only getting a bit of filtered sunlight. Roses need at least 6 -8 hours of sun per day. Morning sun is best so an eastern exposure is always good.
Too much sun can also be an issue for some plants. I planted my shell ginger in far too much sun and it fried. I moved it under a palm tree and, voila! beautiful and colorful ginger. After hurricane Matthew and the resulting loss of tree cover and thus shade, many homeowners had to rethink their landscaping. Areas that had been in deep shade were now receiving much more sunlight than previously. Any change in tree canopy can affect which plants grow well and which ones need to be moved.
I love goldenrod, but there is one variety that grows far too tall for most gardens and flops over. It is Canadian goldenrod or Solidago canadensis. It attracts pollinators and is absolutely beautiful, but because of its tendency to flop over, do not plant it like I did along a pathway. Plant it in the back of a garden where it can lean over to its heart’s content. I planted it along a path in our community pollinator garden and no one could get by it. And you do not want to push something out of your way that is laden with buzzing bees. Another lesson learned. Do plant goldenrod in your garden. It is a lovely native and although many people believe that they are allergic to it, goldenrod has no allergens. If you are sneezng, it is because ragweed blooms at the same time and it has these wicked little balls of pollen that are the cause of many sufferers this time of the year.
Do I make mistakes? Heavens yes. Does it stop me from trying things? Heavens no. How else can we learn if we do not make an occasional blunder? At least I did not get a reprimand from the King of Sweden for my mistakes!
