meadowsweet
Filipendula ulmaria
RHS Plants for Pollinators
USDA zones3 to 9
SunHandles full sun to partial sun
WaterHandles moderate to wet soil
Size3 to 6 feet tall1 to 3 feet wide
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Habit
- Clumping
- Bloom season
- Spring, summer, autumn
- Bloom color
- Pink, white
- Foliage color
- Green
- Soil types
- Sand, loam, clay
Garden uses
Attracts
Notes
Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) is a perennial for pollinator gardens, rain gardens, and naturalized areas. It is hardy to USDA zone 3, or down to -40°F (-40°C). This plant likes full or part sun and average to wet, sandy, loamy, or clay soil. It is not a favorite of deer or rabbits, though hungry ones will eat almost anything. It grows in a clump and reaches 36 to 72 inches tall. Its fragrant pink or white blooms attract bees.
Pairs well with Clustered bellflower, Ostrich fern, and Prairie dropseed.
Native range
Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, Altay, and 11 more places. See all 15
Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, Altay, Buryatiya, Irkutsk, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Krym, NW. Balkan Pen., Primorye, Tuva, Türkiye, Xinjiang, and Yakutiya.