May 9th, 2010 Goldflame spirea
Goldflame is an outstanding spirea, and the ancestor of many of the popular Japanese spirea varieties. Once you know it’s main traits, you can see how it has passed these on. It’s been around long enough so it’s traits are well known, and landscapers regularly use it, despite the newer varieties.
Goldflame spirea in late summer, starting to rebloom after a trim
As with Goldmound, it has a similar pointy oblong leave, a bit more rough textured, but Goldflame has them all over, not just on newer growth. Completely different from the soft, ferny Vanhoutte leaves. It’s what these leaves can do that is the outstanding part. They emerge in spring in shades of copper, rust, and yellow, turning to a medium green during summer, and returning to that flame color in the fall. The changing color adds variety at a time when not much else may be blooming in the garden. The summer green adds a nice contrast to it’s pink clusters of blooms.
The advantages of Goldflame are similar to the other Japanese spireas. It can take most soil types and light levels, grows in a broad range of zones, and animals mostly leave it alone. It’s mostly allergy free, with little problem from bugs and disease. With a size of 3 ft, it won’t get out of hand even if ignored, and grows at a medium pace. It trims into a hedge nicely, or can be left in it’s mostly vase shape. It has a touch of the globe shape that Goldmound gets, but seems to be a bit more upright. The flower clusters are wide, about 3 inches, and really stand out.
Goldflame spirea can be bought here – SPIREA ‘GOLDFLAME / 3 gallon Potted
Those same flower clusters are one of it’s disadvantages. After the flowering is done, they can give the shrub a messy look. Trimming them off improves the look of the bush, and increases the fall color. It can even bring a second flush of blooms. Some cleaning out of dead internal branches is needed, also, but that can be true of almost any bush. If you are looking for something to provide a lot of shade quickly, at about 6 ft, this isn’t your best choice. Some people don’t like the changing leaf tone, as it might be harder to make annuals stand out next to it. It could steal the show.
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