Spirea Ulmaria (Rosaceae)
Meadowsweet is a European and Western Asian native that has a long and interesting history with people. It is a hardy 3-6 ft. plant with reddish/ purple stems and dark green leaves, divided, pinnate and elm-like (ul-maria). The tiny, creamy white flowers are held in bunches and have a delicate, sweet smell. The flowers attract hordes of pollinators and tiny wasps and grows in moist open meadows. It was the favorite “strewing herb” of Queen Elizabeth I. It has been used medicinally as an astringent and for stomach upset and as flavoring for vinegars and meads. The plant contains salicylic acid which is the analgesic basis of aspirin. There is also a pink flowering species, spirea rubra, that you see growing around. I haven’t had much luck propagating it from seed. I’d love to get my hands on a patch of it.
AVAILABLE THIS YEAR
Sold in gallon pots.
Meadowsweet is a European and Western Asian native that has a long and interesting history with people. It is a hardy 3-6 ft. plant with reddish/ purple stems and dark green leaves, divided, pinnate and elm-like (ul-maria). The tiny, creamy white flowers are held in bunches and have a delicate, sweet smell. The flowers attract hordes of pollinators and tiny wasps and grows in moist open meadows. It was the favorite “strewing herb” of Queen Elizabeth I. It has been used medicinally as an astringent and for stomach upset and as flavoring for vinegars and meads. The plant contains salicylic acid which is the analgesic basis of aspirin. There is also a pink flowering species, spirea rubra, that you see growing around. I haven’t had much luck propagating it from seed. I’d love to get my hands on a patch of it.
AVAILABLE THIS YEAR
Sold in gallon pots.
Meadowsweet is a European and Western Asian native that has a long and interesting history with people. It is a hardy 3-6 ft. plant with reddish/ purple stems and dark green leaves, divided, pinnate and elm-like (ul-maria). The tiny, creamy white flowers are held in bunches and have a delicate, sweet smell. The flowers attract hordes of pollinators and tiny wasps and grows in moist open meadows. It was the favorite “strewing herb” of Queen Elizabeth I. It has been used medicinally as an astringent and for stomach upset and as flavoring for vinegars and meads. The plant contains salicylic acid which is the analgesic basis of aspirin. There is also a pink flowering species, spirea rubra, that you see growing around. I haven’t had much luck propagating it from seed. I’d love to get my hands on a patch of it.
AVAILABLE THIS YEAR
Sold in gallon pots.