Binomial: Spirea alba
We found our first Meadowsweet at a local nursery. We were surprised to find a straight native at a conventional nursery, but meadowsweet is such a showy plant on its own that the nursery must have realized it sells itself!
Meadowsweet is a versatile plant in moist to wet soils. We have ours planted downhill from our drain pipes. The soil in this area is relatively dense clay with a layer of sandy loam on top. The area gets all-day sun until about 3 pm and can dry out during low-rain periods.
Many guides say Meadowsweet needs wet soil, but that hasn’t been the case for ours. We might be pushing the extreme of its dry tolerance. There was a drought last summer, and it survived with no extra watering, but it grew significantly less than in the years before.
We have a second Meadowsweet in a rain garden next to a high-volume downspout. This particular plant hasn’t had a good time. It has occupied three different locations in our yard, each with its own challenges. First getting crowded out when it was young (our fault!), then drying out on a berm we thought had more moisture than it did. The downspout location is new this year and should be a great resting spot for this plant.
Popular with Polinators!
Meadowsweet is a busy plant when it’s in full bloom! Bees, wasps, and flies love the delicate aromatic flowers, and so do we! It’s a very showy plant.
Why We Chose Meadowsweet
Its delicate white flowers are a wonderful replacement for Bridal Wreath Spirea, a non-native sibling. When we moved in, we had two Bridal Wreath Spiraeas, and their drooping branches looked too opulent for our style. Meadowsweet’s mound shape and conical flowers provide a strong anchor point in our garden and attract far more pollinators than the Bridal Wreath they replaced.
We also chose Meadowsweet for water management. We have drainage that comes down one side of the house. During the melt, we get a small spring trickling out of the grass onto the sidewalk. We’ve planted moisture-loving plants along this strip to absorb and retain more of this water before it hits the street.
Meadowsweet is a larval host for the Spring Azure butterfly, a stunning little blue butterfly that you see in the early spring.