And it's down to the water's brim he's born the rowan shield
And the goldenrod he has cast in to see what the lake might yield
--Archie Fisher, "Witch of the Westmoreland"As we move into autumn in Ontario, the roadsides and ditches are graced with the tall, beautiful goldenrods mixed with purple asters. Goldenrods, species Solidago are members of the aster family. The Latin name comes from solidare, to make whole.
Goldenrod
(click on image for a larger view)And wholesome they are. It's an urban myth that they cause hay fever. Goldenrod pollen is heavy and the plants are pollinated by insects. Guilt by association. They appear at the same time as the inconspicuous ragweed with its airborne killer pollen that drives people to their allergy capsules.
The leaves of goldenrod are sometimes used for herbal teas and medicinal preparations. In the US, the goldenrod has been selected as the state flower of Alabama, Kentucky, and Nebraska. There is even a website called Wisdom's Goldenrod Centre for Philosophic Studies.
Photographically goldenrod is a challenge. The eye sees them as a unified field of gold, but when you get close up with a camera, the lens sees small yellow flowers clustered along a wandlike stem. It is nearly impossible to get into macro range without serious DOF problems. The way I chose to handle this in the above photograph was to selectively focus on a few of the flowers and use the gold out-of-focus areas as a backdrop to create an impressionist feeling of yellow and gold. I was after the feel rather than the details.
Fall goldenrods are a magnet to every insect in the vicinity. My next self assignment is to photograph some of them enjoying the fading days of summer on a golden field.
(21-Sep-2003, Revised 16-Jun-2004)
www.NorthernJourney.com -- gene@wilburn.ca