Spiraea japonica 'Goldmound' – 'Goldmound' Japanese Spirea

Instantly brighten your landscape with the 'Goldmound' Japanese spirea, a dwarf shrub that delivers a dazzling, luminous display from spring until the first frosts. Its dense, compact foliage unfolds in spring with an exceptionally bright golden yellow that maintains its vivacity throughout the summer before donning rich copper hues in autumn. In June and July, a multitude of small, soft pink flower clusters crowns this golden dome, creating a most charming chromatic contrast. Easy to grow, resilient, and versatile, it structures your space with brilliance and brings an incomparable touch of radiance to borders, mass plantings, or rock gardens.

Characteristics

• Foliage : Deciduous. Small oval leaves emerge a striking golden yellow in spring, softly turn a luminous yellowish green in summer, and then take on magnificent copper and orange tints in autumn.
• Flowering / Fruiting / Stems : Produces a profusion of small pink flowers grouped in flat-topped corymbs at the tips of the branches from June to July. Fine, highly branched stems that exfoliate with age form a compact silhouette.
• Light : Offers its most beautiful colours when given a full sun location, but tolerates partial shade.
• Habit : Bushy, compact, and naturally rounded into a dome shape.
• Growth : Average growth rate, reaching a maximum height of about 60 cm and a spread of 60 to 90 cm.
• Soil : Adapts to a wide variety of loose, well-drained soils.

Use

• Types of use : Ideal for bordering walkways, structuring the foreground of flower beds, or forming colorful low mass plantings. Performs beautifully in containers to add color to terraces and balconies.
• Decorative advantages : Creates a striking colour contrast alongside dark, purple, or bluish foliage plants, and maintains a constant luminosity in the garden throughout the season.

Maintenance

• Watering : Water regularly during the first year following planting to encourage root establishment. Thereafter, maintain a slightly cool soil and water mainly during heatwaves.
• Fertilization : Apply a rich compost or a granular fertilizer for trees and shrubs early in the spring to stimulate the vigor and luminosity of the foliage.
• Pruning : Prune the shrub severely early in the spring, before the appearance of new leaves, cutting it back to about 15-20 cm from the ground to encourage dense growth and a generous flowering. Remove faded flowers in summer to stimulate a light production of new blooms.
• Planting : Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball, incorporate high-quality potting soil, and space plants 60 to 75 cm apart for use in a low hedge or mass planting.
• Winter protection : Apply a layer of leaf or bark mulch at the base in autumn to protect the root system during the first frosts without snow.