American meadowsweet

Also known as: meadow sweet; pale bridewort; queen of the meadows

Small, upright thicket-forming shrub to about 1.2m tall, with narrow, sharply-serrated mid-green leaves on unbranched yellow-brown stems, and downy, terminal panicles of tiny white flowers produced in late summer

Scientific classification

Species: American meadowsweet (Spiraea alba)
Genus: Spiraea
Family: Rosaceae

Information to be completed
Toxicity: Shrubs
Plant type: 1-1.5 metres
Height: 1-1.5 metres
Spread: Deciduous
Foliage: Suckering
Habit: Autumn · Spring · Summer
Season of interest: Full sun · Partial shade
Sunlight: Information to be completed
Ideal temperature

American meadowsweet pictures

Distribution of American meadowsweet

Distribution map

Northern America

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Culture

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Toxicity

Information to be completed

Quick identification of American meadowsweet

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American meadowsweet care guide

Moderate regular watering, allowing brief slight drying between soakings
Watering: Full sun · Partial shade
Sunlight: Information to be completed
Ideal temperature

Watering

Moderate regular watering, allowing brief slight drying between soakings

Fertilizing

Balanced perennial feed every four weeks from spring through summer

Pruning

Shorten last year's flowering stems to one or two buds from the older woody framework. Remove thin, weak and dead shoots. Prune in early to mid-spring as growth resumes; avoid winter pruning that exposes new shoots to frost.

Propagation

Propagate suckering species such as S. alba by division in late summer or early spring. Propagate by softwood or semi-ripe cuttings in spring to late summer or hardwood cuttings in winter