This month we're shining a spotlight on Fireworks Goldenrod — a cultivar of Solidago rugosa — a plant native to Colorado that earns its keep right when most of the garden is winding down. Right now, in mid-September, it's putting on its best show of the year: a clump-forming perennial standing about three and a half feet tall, topped with delicate, arching sprays of tiny gold flowers that genuinely do resemble fireworks bursting outward from the plant.

One of its standout features is that graceful, vase-like habit. Rather than a stiff, upright clump, 'Fireworks' arches outward from the base, which makes it a natural candidate for underplanting — a low, gray-foliaged groundcover like partridge feather or silver brocade artemisia at its feet would set off that golden color beautifully, letting the arching blooms explode up and over from underneath.

In keeping with our definition of "low-maintenance," this plant asks for very little beyond decent, evenly moist soil and a spot in the sun. It's deer resistant, and right now it's covered in pollinators — bees, wasps, and butterflies working the blooms nonstop. Few plants offer this much color and activity so late in the season, which is exactly what makes it worth a spot in the border.

The arching, firework-like sprays of Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks' in full bloom at The Gardens on Spring Creek in Fort Collins, Colorado.