Bless you!
It happens every year. The beautiful native Goldenrod gets blamed for Ragweed's "achoo season". It's understandable in that they are from the same plant family, Asteraceae aka daisy family. However, they belong to distinctly different genera (plural of genus). Goldenrod is in the Solidago genus while Ragweed is in the Ambrosia genus. They are both native to Minnesota.
Let's get to the root of the Achoo season. I'm going to tell you upfront that it's Ragweed you don't want while Goldenrod is a beneficial pollinator plant.
Goldenrod flowering
Ragweed flowering
Minnesotawildflowers.info is an excellent source of information on all sorts of plants found in Minnesota, including weeds. Click on the link for photos and more information on Ragweed.
Note the very lobed leaves of the Ragweed plant above
Note the smooth leaves of the Goldenrod plant above
To blow your mind a little more, there are 18 types of Goldenrod listed in Minnesota Wildflowers. Gertens sells the Showy Goldenrod (Solidago speciosa) and the Stiff Goldenrod (solidago rigida) along with a cultivar called 'Little Lemon'. Goldenrods bloom from August into October, are zone 2 hardy, drought tolerant, great for erosion control, attract birds and are low maintenance!
As for your sneezing season, per my favorite magazine, Northern Gardener, Ragweed produces more pollen each year than every other pollen-producing weed species combined! Yup, read that again. From early August through mid-October one ragweed plant can produce up to 1 billion grains of pollen each season. OMG, that's nuts!
Goldenrods are beautiful and, again, not the cause of your achoos, but they are a key habitat and food species for many native animals from butterflies to even woodpeckers! Very basically, the gall fly lays an egg on the goldenrod stem, the larva hatches and burrows inside the plant. They then feed on the plant tissue. It gets creepy from that point as beetles and wasps are known to eat them and lay their own eggs. Duing winter, Downy woodpeckers and Black-capped chickadees drill holes into galls and eat the larva, preferring the gall fly but they'll take what they can get. Circle of Life.
Downy Woodpecker checking for food in those galls
All in all, give Goldenrods the love they deserve and save your angst for Ragweed!
I have suffered with allergies from childhood. After my love of gardening really bloomed and I couldn't be outdoors without achoos and watery eyes, I finally decided to get shots. It was a long process (years) but for me, well worth it. I haven't taken shots for 20 years now and I have not suffered anywhere near what I used to! This isn't me telling you what to do, just sharing my personal experience!
To tissues and Bless yous,
The Garden Scoop