Filipendula
Meadowsweet
These hardy deer-resistant perennials will satisfy your sweet tooth without making you pay a heavy price. Meadowsweet prefers moist well-drained settings.
Each $9.25
For those gardeners who love the pink floral froth of Filipendula ‘Venusta’, but desire something smaller, ‘Kahome’ is your answer! This dwarf clumping perennial throws branched cotton candy-colored panicles of tiny fragrant flowers above pinnately cut bright green leaves that assume a fern-like quality on young red-infused stems. Equally valued for its lovely effervescent flowers and textural cucumber-scented foliage, Meadowsweet can be massed as a ground cover and added to a border, damp meadow, stream side or cottage garden, where it relishes light shade.
Blooms July–August
Size: 6" – 12" high x 6" – 12" wide.
Hardy to zone 3.
Filipendula ‘Red Umbrellas’ (P-2042)
Each $9.50
Selected by Japanese plant breeder Yohei Hosogai and introduced by the Dutch nursery Walter Blom Plants, this compelling Filipendula multijuga and Filipendula palmata hybrid promotes bold hardy foliage and cut-flower-perfect plumes. Fleecy scented soft pink flowers alight short sturdy stems, swaying above a small-sized compact mound, while vivid crimson-hued veins plus decorative serrated margins artfully enhance the tailored dark green leaves. (pp#23,129)
Blooms June–August
Size: 2-1/2' high x 18" – 2' 0" wide.
Hardy to zone 3.
Filipendula rubra ‘Venusta’ (P-1024)
Each $9.50
A statuesque beauty, ‘Venusta’ is distinguished by huge, fluffy cloudlike plumes painted with soft salmon pinks floating above a good-sized, leafy mass of upright stems and jagged, Maple-shaped foliage. Forging an impressive stand in a moist well drained setting, Meadow Sweet seldom needs staking, and makes an airy partner for Trollius ‘ Superbus’.
Blooms July–August.
Size: 4' 0" – 5' 0" high x 2' 0" wide.
Hardy to zone 4.
This magnificent American native struts a bushy upright pedestal of notched dark green compound foliage with bold 4 to 8 in. lobed terminal leaflets plus paired incised laterals. Swarthy stems bolster the generous perfumed panicles described by diminutive loosely arranged pure white flowers. A leafy back-of-the border mainstay, ‘Venusta Alba’s wispy floral pouffes look especially spectacular when planted in drifts and viewed from afar.
Blooms July–August
Size: 4' 0" – 5' 0" high x 2' 0" wide.
Hardy to zone 5.
Filipendula ulmaria ‘Aurea’ (P-0072)
Each $9.25
Esteemed for its bright golden foliage, this moisture-lover delights with fragrant Astilbe-like clusters of minute creamy white flowers. Upright clump-forming stems are garbed in prominently veined, deeply dissected leaves, which transmute a vivid chartreuse glow as summer approaches.
Companions like Ophiopogon ‘Nigrescens’ and Geranium ‘Espresso’ make ‘Aurea’s lambent accents appear even more exceptional; protection from hot afternoon sun and fertile, moderately wet soil ensure its success.
Blooms July–August.
Size: 2' 0" – 3' 0" high x 2' 0" wide.
Hardy to zone 4.
Plentiful, petite round buds unfurl effervescent panicles of dainty, cloud-white, double flowers that age with subtle pale pink blushes. Alluring to bees, butterflies and floral designers, the winsome, long-blooming upright flowers light up a trim, prominently veined basal foundation described by toothed, deeply lobed rich green leaves. ‘Multiplex’s old-fashioned meadow-like appeal and smaller carriage merits a front row seat in an adequately moist border or sunny cottage garden.
Blooms June–August
Size: 2' 0" high x 18" wide.
Hardy to zone 4.
