The Garden Club September 28, 2007

Solidago (Goldenrod) - rugosa 'Fireworks'

Goldenrods - Ugh and Sneeze!
The northern Europeans appreciate many of our native wildflowers a lot more than we do. However, in spite of their best breeding efforts, many of the goldenrods are still nothing more than invasive weeds. There are a very few that really are top notch garden plants. Through the years, I have probably grown just about every goldenrod that has ever been hybridized. The absolute best is Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks' that was developed at the North Carolina Botanical Gardens. It blooms for about six weeks in late summer. It spreads very slowly; in four years the clump in my garden has expanded from 18" to 30" across at the base and I have never seen a seedling. It thrives on total neglect and blooms beautifully even after severe drought.

A Truly Zero Maintenance Perennial
'Fireworks' is the perfect name for this goldenrod - from August into October erect stems burst with small, brilliant yellow flowers, closely resembling a fireworks display. 'Fireworks' sturdy stems and compact growth habit make it look more like a shrub then a perennial. In the spring, small bronze-colored leaves will appear, turning to a dark green in the summer. Many people often incorrectly associate goldenrod with hay fever problems, as it can usually be found growing along side of the actual culprit, Ragweed.

Planting and Care
'Fireworks' is very durable and easy to grow. It is a slowly spreading clump former reaching 3-4 feet high. Hardy in Zones 4-9, 'Fireworks' prefers a location with full sun, but some shade is tolerated. Your fall garden will be gorgeous with the addition of 'Fireworks', especially when planted with Sedum Autumn Joy, Ornamental Grasses, blue and purple perennial Asters, Colchicum or Beautyberry shrub. In fact, a spectacular fall combination would be a Panicum grass, Solidago 'Fireworks', Aster Purple Pixie and Colchicum the Giant - all interplanted and underplanted with daffodils and crocus tomasinianus for spring color.

For best results, plant in the fall or spring.

Water occasionally until established.

Prefers an area with full sun.

For mass display, plant 18" apart.

Fertilize lightly with Flower-Tone in early spring.

Hardy in Zones 4-9.

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Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks'

Garden Club Questions and Answers

Question: Our lawn is a huge patch of crab grass, weeds and dead grass with a good deal of good grass still surviving amongst the weeds. Am I too late to use a weed killer and overseed?

Answer: It's too late to do anything about the crab grass. It will die with the first killing frost. You can use one of the new two-week wait-time lawn weed killers such as Speed Zone. But you must do so immediately and then overseed near the deadline for overseeding, using Espoma Bio-Tone Starter to speed-up and enhance germination. A better alternative would be dethatch, tearing the tops from the weeds and reseed immediately. Dethatching leaves a much better bed in which to start the seed. In the spring, you can apply Dimension crab grass preventer. After the grass has been cut twice, control the broad-leaved weeds with a liquid lawn weed killer such as Bonide Weed Beater Ultra.

Question: I caught part of what you said about salt hay for covering grass seed, rather than straw. I had loads of weeds that came up when I used straw, but I was told hay had even more weed seed than straw. Can you ship salt hay?

Answer: Salt hay is not the same as common dry-land hay.
Salt hay is gathered in the marshes off the New Jersey shore. The seeds of salt hay will not germinate without salt. So there will be no salt hay seedlings in the lawn. Salt hay cannot be shipped. It is available for pick-up at our garden center in Westminster.

Question: Many years ago I had a red strawberry called Fraises des Bois or something like that, from White Flower Farm. It was a great plant, but I left it behind when I moved. How does Pineapple Crush differ? How far apart should I space Pineapple Crush as an edging?

Answer: Pineapple Crush differs from the plant you had only in the flavor and color of the fruit. We also have a red-fruited form. It is called Rugens Improved. As an edging, I space these strawberries 15-18 inches apart, but you can space them as far apart as 24 inches.