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Spirea Goldflame is an ornamental deciduous shrub. The plant is unpretentious in care, frost-resistant. A beautiful shrub highly valued by landscape designers. After all, the Goldflame spirea, the photo and description of which will be presented in the article, retains its decorative effect throughout the growing season.
Description of Spirea Goldflame
Spiraea Goldflame from the Rosaceae family. It occurs naturally in Japan and China. For s, this is still an exotic plant.
Bushes
The height of Spiraea Goldflame is from 60 to 90 cm. On the erect shoots of red-brown color, a wax coating is pronounced. Shoots grow by 10 cm per year. The spirea crown, with proper care and timely shearing, is distinguished by splendor and density. Its diameter is about 1 m.
Leaves
The leaves of the spirea are oval in shape, from 2 to 6 cm long. There are clearly visible notches along the edges of the plates. Surprising colors of sheet plates. They are bright green in early spring, then the color changes to bronze-gold, and in autumn they become brown-bronze.
On one bush, you can simultaneously see all the shades (this can be clearly seen in the photo). The name “Japanese Spiraea Goldflame” is translated from Latin as “golden flame”.
Flowers
The buds are formed in early June, the flowering itself lasts until the end of August. The inflorescences are small, collected in brush-shields. They are so fragrant that they attract many insects, including bees. That is why hives are often installed next to the Goldflame spirea plantings.
In place of flowers, shiny boxes with seeds are formed by the beginning of September.
Spiraea Goldflame in landscape design
Landscape designers have a special relationship with the Japanese Goldflame spirea. The decorativeness and unpretentiousness of the bushes allows them to be used to decorate flower beds, borders, and create hedges. After all, the branches are located densely and densely, that nothing can be seen through them.
If group compositions are supposed, then the following crops can be planted next to the Japanese Goldflame spirea:
- lilac;
- Chubushnik;
- primrose;
- lilies of the valley;
- curb flyers;
- lavender;
- lapchatka;
- barberry.
Spirea looks spectacular against the background of ground cover perennials with green foliage.
You can plant the Japanese Goldflame spirea separately. Thanks to the haircut, bushes of original forms are obtained. The fragrant flowers of the shrub are widely used by florists to create bouquets from a variety of compositions.
Planting and caring for the Japanese Goldflame Spirea
Before planting Japanese spirea, you need to choose the right place. The plant needs sunlight, but it is better to grow bushes in openwork shade. In this case, the leaves will be bright, and the flowering will be lush and plentiful.
Spirea Japanese Goldflame, according to the description, will not like places where drafts are hosting. It is not recommended to plant plants in areas where groundwater is high or in lowlands, as such a neighborhood can provoke a disease of the root system.
For planting, select areas with fertile, loose soil, preferably acidic. The brightness of spirea leaves acquires precisely on such soils. If there are not enough nutrients in the soil, then humus, peat, sand are added to the pits before planting.
Caring for the Japanese Goldflame spirea is simple, comes down to traditional activities:
- watering and loosening;
- top dressing and mulching;
- pruning and preparation for winter.
Preparation of planting material and site
In order for the Japanese Goldflame spirea to decorate the site for several years, you need to take care of the choice of seedlings. Buying young plants, if you don’t have your own planting material, is only necessary from sellers who are serious about business. But the highest quality, as a rule, seedlings are in nurseries.
Plants should have developed, elastic roots, preferably with a moist clod of earth. Neither the root system nor the shoots should be damaged by diseases and pests.
The site for planting spirea is carefully dug up, not only weeds are removed, but also all rhizomes. Fertilize the soil if necessary.
Rules of landing
Spirea Goldflame seedlings can be planted immediately on a border prepared in advance, or in pits.
And now about how to properly plant young spirea bushes:
- 2 weeks before planting, they dig holes to a depth of 40-50 cm.
- The bottom is covered with drainage: broken bricks, pebbles.
- Then fill the hole with a nutrient soil mixture, water it abundantly so that the soil settles.
- In the center of the seat, a mound is made on which the plant is planted.
- Straighten the roots and cover with earth.
- About 4 liters of water at room temperature are poured under the plant.
- The surface is sprinkled with mulch to retain moisture. It can be humus, sawdust, fresh cut grass.
Watering and top dressing
Spirea Goldflame should be watered moderately, avoiding stagnant water. Particular attention should be paid to the bushes in the summer heat, since even a slight drying of the topsoil negatively affects not only the development of the plant, but also the decorative effect.
It is necessary to provide oxygen access to the root system. To do this, each watering is combined with loosening and mulching with peat or compost.
Abundant flowering of the Japanese Goldflame spirea is possible only in the presence of fertile soil. For top dressing use organic matter or mineral fertilizers. It is enough to apply nutrition 3-4 times during the growing season.
Pruning Spirea Goldflame
Bushes of an exotic plant must be formed using pruning. Begin this procedure 4 years after planting.
There are 3 types of spirea haircuts:
- formative;
- rejuvenating;
- sanitary.
After wintering, frost-damaged and dry shoots are removed from the bushes. Closer to autumn cut inflorescences. At the same time, the crown of the plant is formed: the Japanese Goldflame spirea responds well to a haircut, it becomes more magnificent. In addition, every gardener can turn on the fantasy and cut the crown, giving the bush the desired shape.
Despite the fact that spirea grows on the site for a long time, from time to time it is necessary to carry out a rejuvenating haircut to extend the lifespan. Work should be planned for the spring, until sap flow begins. Almost all shoots are cut to a height of no more than 1 cm. After a while, young shoots will appear.
Preparation for winter
Adult bushes of the Japanese Goldflame spirea endure frost in winter. With a strong cold snap, sometimes the branches freeze. But with the help of spring pruning, you can restore spirea.
But young plants for 2 years need to be well covered. The event does not cause any particular difficulties:
- The soil is carefully loosened, a layer of mulch is poured at least 10-15 cm in order to insulate the root system.
- Burlap is laid on top, fallen leaves on top.
- After that, the stems of the shrub are bent to the ground, fixed with staples and wrapped with any non-woven material.
- With the onset of stable positive temperatures, the shelter is removed, the staples are removed from the shoots.
Reproduction
To obtain new bushes of Japanese spirea (spiraea japonica goldflame), layering, cuttings, and seeds are used. Events are held at different times. To get high-quality seedlings, you need to properly root.
Layering
In early spring, until the foliage has blossomed on the bushes, a healthy young shoot is lowered to the ground, well fixed in a horizontal position with a bracket. The entire shoot is sprinkled with fertile soil. It remains only to water, not allowing the soil to dry out. By autumn, the root system will form, but the seedling is separated from the mother bush for the next year.
Cutting
For propagation by cuttings, towards the end of June, a high-quality shoot is cut from the Goldflame bushes. It is cut into pieces so that each has at least one live kidney.
For rooting, a peat-sand mixture is used in equal proportions. Moisten the soil, stick the cuttings with the lower cut. In order for the development of the roots to be successful, the future spirea is watered 3-4 times a day. In autumn, cuttings should be covered in the same way as young plants.
seed method of reproduction
Sowing seeds is carried out in early spring in containers with nutrient soil. Seedlings are planted in the main place at the end of June. When transplanting, it is necessary to pinch the roots.
Diseases and pests
The plant is resistant to almost all diseases. But insects attack spirea constantly.
The most dangerous are:
- rose leaf;
- spider mite;
- aphid.
The leaflet appears in late spring. She gnaws the leaves. If you do not take emergency measures, the shoots will remain bare. Aphids suck the juice from the leaves, damage the pedicels and shoots. To destroy these pests, Pirimor is used.
If a cobweb appeared on the bush, and there were holes on the foliage and inflorescences, it means that the spirea was attacked by a spider mite. If you do not take the necessary measures, then soon the leaves will dry out and fall off. The spider mite breeds very quickly in hot, dry weather. For processing shrubs, you can use:
- “Phosphamide”;
- “Acrexom”;
- “Karbofosom”.
Conclusion
Spirea Goldflame is an unpretentious plant for the garden. It is used for landscaping squares, city parks. During the entire vegetative period, the shrub looks original against any background.
