Last time we were up in our little sort of cabin in pa, we saw a bunch of golden rod growing. I start researching it, find out it is a great end of summer nectar flow for honey bees. So my dear sweet honey says lets go back up to pa and get some. We end up pulling up around 300 plants or more, it grows by runners and seeds. Three large black lawn bags of seed heads and plants. Shallow plant roots, real easy to pull.
"Goldenrods vary in height, with six feet being the tallest (Solidago altissima). Some, such as Solidago odora (Sweet Goldenrod) have pleasant odors.
Goldenrods are extremely important to other wildlife, especially insects. Many animals come to Goldenrod to drink nectar, collect pollen, nibble leaves and stems, prey on other insects, or lay eggs.
Bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, flies, and others visit for nectar and pollen. Caterpillars, aphids, and other small insects eat the leaves and stems. Wasps, spiders, praying mantids, lacewings, ambush bugs, assassin bugs, beetles, and birds prey on the insects Goldenrod attracts. There is even a Goldenrod Spider, who specializes in hiding on these plants! There are also special flies, called Gall Flies, which lay eggs in the stems and leaves of Goldenrod so their larvae can hatch and begin eating. Some insect predators, such as the Praying Mantis, lay their eggs on Goldenrod too, so their babies can feast on insects when they hatch. There are so many interactions among animals on and around Goldenrods that it becomes very complicated to follow."
Then dear sweet hubby helped me plant them yesterday, along two fence lines in the back field where the deer hang out. We have a ton of deer in pa, they don't seem to care for the goldenrod. I am also going to plant a bunch of mint with the goldenrod. Mint blooms mid summer into the fall. Great nectar producer.
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These areas and another inside fence area are going to be seeded with nectar producing wildflowers for the bees. This is where the electric fence will be, the deer love these flowers.
The slope will be low mowed early spring, I am buying a lot of dutch clover seed, heavy nectar flow, low growing (so I can still mow) around 4 inches or so. Dear honey is going to help me create a bee sweep to have in front of the mower, a bar with some swinging chains on it to scare the bees away so I don't harm them mowing. Right now I watch for bees, butterflies and pause to get them to fly lol.
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And since we drove the truck, ROCKS! found a great pile of them on the lower slope. Still more to get but didn't want to over load our poor old yukon
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