At first blush, a trout stream and a wildflower meadow don’t appear to be particularly related. Unless of course the former meanders through the latter. In that case it’s unlikely a fisherman will find much luck in such sunny waters.
However, the sweetness of early autumn does actually unite the art of fishing with the beauties of a wildflower meadow.
In the first of the two-part video that goes with this blog (included below), I talked about spreading dogbane and how its fibers are said to be useful in making fishing line. Boiled, the young tender leaves of some asters have been used by Ojibwe families in preparing fish for meals. Additionally, fishermen have told me they use the larvae of the goldenrod gall fly as bait. Eggs laid by the adult female on the goldenrod form a gall on the stem which can be opened to extract the larva. The gall itself doesn’t seem to harm the plant – it grows around it and produces as many blooms as those goldenrod that don’t carry the young of the goldenrod gall fly.
From crafting fishing line to obtaining bait to cooking a fisherman’s catch, asters, dogbane and goldenrod, three of the wildflowers commonly found in late summer and early autumn, offer gifts that make that fishing not only possible but delectable as well.
The goldenrod feeds a variety of other relations too. I've watched small birds such as the goldfinch feast on the flower's seedheads in the fall. And that goldenrod gall fly provides dinner to more than human fishermen. Others from wasps to downy woodpeckers and chickadees are fed by the larvae.
Goldenrod also plays host to the young of other insects. The goldenrod bunch gall midge, for example, creates a home on the wild plant by causing leaves on one part of the plant to grow in a dense cluster like that seen in the photo here. The midge makes this cluster home.
Whether it’s jewelweed, heal-all, asters or goldenrod, early autumn wildflowers offer many gifts. Not the least of which is beauty. And this beauty can go hand in hand with the more prosaic: it's probably helpful to know, for example, that the leaves of large-leaved aster can be used as toilet paper.
Every year we’ve also noticed, at least around our home, flowers in this season seem particularly attractive to the greatest number and largest variety of bees. Bumblebees from the common eastern to the orange-belted and golden northern as well as a variety of other bees make the goldenrod and asters literally hum with their activity. These aster and goldenrod meadows stretch for a couple acres on our land, winding through wild apple orchards, cherry groves, and crabapple nooks while also wandering around the spruce, aspen and maple. I could walk it all and everywhere is the lovely humming sound of bees happily gathering before the chill of later autumn settles in for good.
Early Autumn Wildflowers: Part One (Part Two below)
Early Autumn Wildflowers: Part Two
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