Goldflame Spirea

Brightly colored foliage is always an asset in the garden, and when it comes on a shrub that gives several colors through the year, for almost no work from you, then we really have something valuable. Combine that with a compact size that suits any garden, cold resistance, drought tolerance, and general hardiness, and you have a plant that becomes a valuable ‘work-horse’ in every garden. Well, there is such a plant – it’s the Goldflame Spirea.

The Goldflame Spirea is a small deciduous shrub that grows between 3 and 4 feet tall, and that spreads out the same distance. It has a dense, twiggy structure that reaches to the ground, creating a rounded, dome-shaped plant. It has a unique combination of foliage colors, making it a powerful feature in the garden. The spring growth is a rich and fiery bronzy-red – the ‘flame’ of its name – and as the leaves mature they quickly turn bright lemon yellow, with the young leaves on the tips of each shoot remaining red. In summer that lemon yellow changes into a cool greenish-yellow, one of the most fashionable and desirable garden colors around. Then in fall it transforms into a whole pallet of yellow, orange and coppery-red, making a wonderful show. The leaves are oval and pointed, between 2 and 3 inches long, with soft teeth along the edges.

In June and July, the Goldflame Spirea flowers, with 3 to 6-inch flat clusters of tiny purplish-pink flowers. These attract butterflies, and their color makes a striking contrast with the foliage. If you trim the flowers as they fade, more will often come, right into September.

Use the Goldflame Spirea as a bright accent plant in the foreground of your beds, around your home or out in the garden. Plant it in clusters and drifts to fill larger spaces with weed-smothering easy-care bushes. Space the plants 2 to 2½ feet apart, scattering them, rather than planting in rows Use it among rocks with other small bushes, like blue trailing evergreens, or small upright plants. It is great for slopes and banks, as the stems and roots stabilize the soil and prevent erosion. Plant it in a row along the edge of a large bed, either in a lawn or against a driveway or terrace. Because it has such powerful foliage colors, this is a great plant for making low hedges, up to 2 feet tall. It clips well, soon re-sprouting with brightly colored leaves, and its an ever-changing bright feature you will love. Because the foliage is so colorful, this is one plant where you won’t mind losing the flowers when you trim. These colorful low hedges really brighten your garden, and they only need trimming a couple of times in the year.

The Goldflame Spirea will be most colorful in full sun all day, but it will also grow with a couple of hours of shade each day, and shade in winter, when it is dormant, is not a problem. It grows well in any ordinary garden soil, as long as it is not constantly wet. It is hardy even in zone 3 and this particular Japanese Spirea variety is notable for its great heat resistance too, so it is perfectly happy even in zone 8. Wherever you live, you can grow this easy plant – easily. It has no notable pests or diseases, it thrives in urban gardens, and deer normally leave it alone. If you have several, or a hedge, then trimming with shears at least once a year, in late winter, will keep it neat. If you like pruning you can also prune more carefully in spring, removing weak, twiggy branches, and a few of the oldest stems, but this detail is optional.

The Goldflame Spirea is a unique variety of the Japanese Spirea, properly called Spirea x bumalda. This hybrid plant, found in gardens in Japan in the 19th century, is probably a cross between a plant called Spirea albiflora, and the Japanese Spirea, Spirea japonica. Some people consider ‘Goldflame’ to simply be a variety of the Japanese Spirea, but for gardeners it doesn’t really matter. The original plant grown in Europe was brought to England from Japan in the 1870s, and we know that plant today as ‘Anthony Waterer’. Over the years that original variety produced novel branches, with unusual foliage, which became new varieties. The variety called ‘Goldflame’ happened in that way, and it was introduced in 1972 by the nursery F.J. Grootendorst, in Boskoop, Holland. That nursery and that area have given us many, many wonderful garden plants. Our plants are produced from stem pieces, to retain the exact features of the original, that make this plant so desirable.

The Goldflame Spirea is a true garden staple, especially in colder areas, where the choices are more limited. Use it freely around your garden and enjoy the easy color it brings. But order now, because everyone else loves it too, and buys it from us as fast as we can re-stock. Don’t wait.