Filipendula ulmaria
Meadowsweet
Common names: True Meadowsweet, Meadow Queen
At a glance
- Light
- Partial shade
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Flowering
- Jun–Aug
- Hardiness
- Hardy
- Origin
- Native to Germany
Photo: Sten Porse · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) is a native riparian perennial that thrives in moist to wet garden sites. From June to August (week 24 to 32), it produces large, fragrant, fluffy flower spikes above dark‑green, feathered foliage, attracting many bees and hoverflies. The plant can reach up to 1.5 m tall and is well suited for pond edges, wet beds, or naturalistic garden areas. Historically it has been used in teas and infusions, and its flowers add a mild almond‑like flavor to syrups and desserts.
Care instructions
Meadowsweet prefers consistently wet to soggy conditions; a pond edge or a hollow with humus‑rich soil is ideal. Water heavily during dry summer weeks, especially from May to August while the spikes develop. After flowering, you may leave the spent spikes to provide food for birds and insects, or cut them close to the ground in autumn. The plant readily divides every few years, keeping the clump vigorous and providing new plants for other damp spots. It is winter hardy and requires no special protection.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
FloweringJun–Aug
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
moist, nutrient-rich, humus-rich, loamy
Meadowsweet comes from riverbanks and wet meadows and accordingly wants it moist to wet. A humus-rich, nutrient-rich soil with good water retention suits it best, and it copes well with waterlogged spots at the pond edge or in a hollow. Both calcareous and slightly acidic soils are possible; what matters most is permanent moisture.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Apr, Jun
A spring helping of ripe compost in April is usually enough for the whole season. If you top up in June, a thin layer of compost or well-rotted manure around the root zone is best. In its natural habitat meadowsweet often grows entirely without feeding; on lean sites an extra helping of organic material helps.
Overwintering
In Central Europe meadowsweet is hardy and needs no special protection. The shoots above ground die back in autumn and can be cut off close to the ground after the first frost. A loose layer of leaf mulch keeps the root zone moist and additionally protects young plants in their first winter.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Division
The most reliable way is to divide the rootstock in spring or autumn and plant the pieces straight away in a moist spot. Sowing works too; the seeds are cold-stratification seeds and germinate best after a period of frost outdoors or in the fridge. For autumn sowing, it is enough to press the seeds lightly into moist seed compost and leave them outside over winter. Divided plants often flower in the first year, while those grown from seed usually need two years to flower.
Companion planting
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Meadowsweet yourself
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