By Ron Dieter, Sunnyfield Greenhouse & Gardens

October 6, 1999

Now that the furnace is running most evenings there is little doubt. Fall is here. Many gardens are blooming with ornamental grasses, mums, and sedums. In our garden there are three exceptional plants in flower I want to tell you about.

The first is Solidago, or goldenrod. Although there are nearly a hundred different Solidago species native to the United States, it is a popular garden plant almost everywhere in the world except America. I think it plays second fiddle here because most people mistakenly blame it for their hay fever problems. You see, the beautiful golden yellow flowers of goldenrod appear about the same time as the common ragweed comes into bloom and releases its pollen. It is the ragweed pollen that aggravates hay fever sufferers, not goldenrod. Goldenrod pollen is too heavy to be carried very far by the wind.

My favorite variety of goldenrod is one called Solidago ‘Fireworks’. Try to recall the huge fireworks displays that fill the night sky on the fourth of July. S. ‘Fireworks’ will remind you of the ones that burst into six or eight long arching golden streamers radiating from the center. The bright yellow flowers are long pendulous fingers that shoot out over the dark green foliage which is sometimes tinged with red in the fall. In good soil ‘Fireworks’ will form a neat clump and grow three feet tall or more. You don’t need a green thumb to grow goldenrod. A sunny spot towards the back of the garden will do nicely.

A great companion for the yellow glow of goldenrod is the shrub Caryopteris, or blue spirea. The striking bright blue flowers appearing in late summer and fall make it a valuable garden plant. Caryopteris (kerry OP ter iss) is also valued for the pleasant minty fragrance of the leaves and stems. The flowers are borne along the branches near the axils of the uppermost leaves and appear in September and October. The shrub itself gets about two feet tall and is best when cut back in late winter.

An easy-care perennial that blends well with both Caryopteris and Solidago is Aster ‘Alma Potschke’. It is one of the New England asters, which are the tallest of all garden asters. ‘Alma Potschke’ has beautiful warm pink flowers covering most of the woody, three-foot stems for a month or more in early fall. New England asters are an important late-season nectar source for migrating butterflies. These asters need fertile soil with adequate moisture.