Gold mound spireas, or spiraea japonica goldflame, are rounded, deciduous shrubs that dazzle you, from the early spring beginning of their growing season, all the way through autumn with their dramatically changing displays of color. Adding them to your landscape design will create brightness and color change in your landscape scenery.
Gold mound spireas are fast growing and begin their growing season in early spring with foliage that suggests the color red but the foliage quickly fades to a golden yellow color. Then in the spring, the foliage changes to light green. Once summer arrives, the leaves appear lime green and then when autumn finish the leaves off with a yellowish orange glow.
The shrub develops into a natural rounded shape reaching approximately 3 feet high and 2 to 4 feet wide. Gold mound spireas will bloom from late spring to early summer. The flowers are beautiful. They don’t have any smell but they look like fuzzy clusters of tiny pink flowers on top of mounded bright green foliage.
Gold mound spireas are recommended for plant hardiness zones 4 through 9. They are highly adaptable to various soil and sun light environments but they prefer moist and fertile soils that drain well.
Incorporating gold mound spireas into your landscape design is easy. You can select a location ranging from partial light to full sun. Choosing full sun for your gold mound spireas will produce more flowers and extend their bloom season into late summer. The shrub works well planted as an isolated burst of color or planted in groups or strings. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Gold mound spireas have low water requirements making them easy to adapt into your landscape design.
Planning your gold mound spireas installation during the winter months while they are dormant will increase the probability of their successful establishment. Prepare a hole 1½ times the diameter of the root wad you are working with. The hole should be only as deep as the root system so that water will not puddle around the base of the shrub after transplanting. Make sure the top of the root crown ends up slightly above the soil line after transplanting. Amend your planting soil with three parts soil conditioner and one part mushroom compost. Next, transplant as you would an ordinary shrub. Finally, mulch the circular area covered by the foliage with several inches of mulch. Water your gold mound spireas regularly until they are well established.
Gold mound spireas have a natural resistant to disease and heat. Once established gold mound spireas are quite drought resistant and your local deer population won’t eat them either. Deadheading or pruning your gold mound spireas will contribute to more flowers and extend the bloom season into late summer. Gold mound spireas will also attract butterflies into your landscape adding even more colors.