Unlike many tall flowers, goldenrod grows sturdy and upright, thus requiring no stakes. Plant forms tend to improve under cultivation, but some goldenrod can become aggressive and weedy in rich soil. Flower heads make long-lasting cut flowers. Dried sprays are particularly useful in herbal wreaths and fall wall ornaments. This showy plant should be a prime candidate for late-season color in perennial plantings, but goldenrod has been maligned and, therefore, shunned by most American gardeners.
Goldenrod is so conspicuous, it usually gets the blame for fall hay fever.
Ragweed blooms at the same time as goldenrod, but its small, dull, yellow-green flowers do not attract the eye of humans, nor many insect pollinators. For fertilization, ragweed produces large quantities of light pollen that are carried by the wind to other plants. By comparison, goldenrod pollen is too heavy to be airborne long, and bees are the principal pollinators. Over 125 species of Solidago grow in the United States. Its long, arching, flower sprays are displayed on 4-foot stems.