Goldenrod 'Fireworks'
Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks' · Asteraceae
Long, arching sprays of golden-yellow flowers shoot outwards like the trails of a firework in early autumn. A well-behaved clump that does not run.
- Size
- 3½ ft tall, 3 ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late August to mid October
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around goldenrod 'Fireworks'
The planner designed this bed around goldenrod 'Fireworks' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why goldenrod 'Fireworks' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Goldenrod 'Fireworks' × 1, yellow
- 2 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 8, pink
- 3 Winter heath × 5, white
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 5 Garden phlox 'Bright Eyes' × 3, pink
- 6 Palm sedge × 3, green leaves
- 7 Hyacinth 'Delft Blue' × 7, blue
- 8 Schubert's allium × 4, pink
Why this plant
- The only airy sprays. The others are open bowls, bells, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3½ ft it is among the tallest plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Schubert's allium (20 in): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A feature plant is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From late August to mid October.
- Closes the season. In its last week nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Goldenrod 'Fireworks' and brown-eyed Susan anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. The flowering year starts with winter heath in late January and ends with goldenrod 'Fireworks' in mid October.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where goldenrod 'Fireworks' goes in a border
At 3½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
Goldenrod does not cause hay fever; ragweed does. This one stays in a clump, and its arching lines are the perfect partner for the rounded mounds of purple and blue asters.
- Golden sprays for autumn
- With asters and grasses
- Late pollinators
What to plant with goldenrod 'Fireworks'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- New England aster: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for six weeks.
- Aromatic aster 'October Skies': blue against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for four weeks; low enough (20 in) to stand in front of it.
- Switchgrass 'Shenandoah': its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
Questions about goldenrod 'Fireworks'
Does goldenrod 'Fireworks' need sun or shade?
Goldenrod 'Fireworks' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. It copes with soil that stays wet.
What zones does goldenrod 'Fireworks' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does goldenrod 'Fireworks' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late August to mid October. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early September to mid October |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late August to mid October |
| Zone 6 | Late August to mid October |
| Zone 7 | Late August to mid October |
| Zone 8 | Late August to mid October |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should goldenrod 'Fireworks' be planted?
2½ ft (75 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3 ft (90 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3½ ft (100 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many goldenrod 'Fireworks' plants do I need?
At 2½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 2 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 5 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 6 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is goldenrod 'Fireworks' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat goldenrod 'Fireworks'?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after goldenrod 'Fireworks'?
Goldenrod 'Fireworks' is over by mid October. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Tatarian aster 'Jindai': from early October to early November, 4 ft tall.
- Japanese onion 'Ozawa': from early October to early November, 10 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Bodnant viburnum 'Dawn': from early November to late December, 10 ft tall.
What does goldenrod 'Fireworks' look like in winter?
Goldenrod 'Fireworks' dies down, but leave the stems standing: the seed heads stand through the winter, and songbirds eat the seed. Cut them down in early spring, before the new shoots come.
Is goldenrod 'Fireworks' good for bees and butterflies?
Goldenrod 'Fireworks' is visited by pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies and songbirds.
It is a host plant: the caterpillars of wavy-lined emerald feed on its leaves. A butterfly can only lay its eggs on its host plants, so these do more for it than any nectar flower.
It is native to the United States and Canada (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Solidago
- Blue-stemmed goldenrod Solidago caesia
- Goldenrod 'Golden Fleece' Solidago sphacelata 'Golden Fleece'
- Goldenrod 'Little Lemon' Solidago 'Dansolitlem' (Little Lemon)
- Showy goldenrod Solidago speciosa
- Stiff goldenrod Solidago rigida
- Zigzag goldenrod Solidago flexicaulis
In these guides
- Plants for wet soil and rain gardens
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Plants that flower in fall
- Host plants for the wavy-lined emerald
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3½ ft (100 cm) tall, 3 ft (90 cm) wide
- Plant
- 2½ ft (75 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late August to mid October; airy sprays; yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Arching, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Comes from
- Eastern Canada to U.S.A
- Attracts
- Pollinators, specialist bees, butterflies, songbirds
- Host plant for
- Wavy-lined emerald
- Stands up to
- Wet soil
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.