Other Names:  Goat's Beard

Description:

An upright and compact selection featuring ridged green foliage turning orange-red in fall; airy plumes of cream colored flowers appear in early summer; a wonderful choice for borders and containers; good cut flower and foliage quality

Ornamental Features

Sparkles Goatsbeard features airy spikes of creamy white flowers at the ends of the stems from late spring to mid summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its textured pointy compound leaves are emerald green in color. As an added bonus, the foliage turns gorgeous shades of orange and red in the fall.

Landscape Attributes

Sparkles Goatsbeard is an herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Sparkles Goatsbeard is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Bog Gardens

Planting & Growing

Sparkles Goatsbeard will grow to be about 16 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 18 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 15 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It is quite adaptable, prefering to grow in average to wet conditions, and will even tolerate some standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone over the growing season to conserve soil moisture. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.