Meadowsweet (meadowsweet) pink: cultivation and care

Pink meadowsweet is a popular ornamental perennial belonging to the species of meadowsweet (F. ulmaria). The scientific name Filipendula rosea in literal translation sounds like “hanging threads”. The root system of meadowsweet consists of numerous small nodules hanging on filamentous roots (hence the name of the plant). In the people, the meadowsweet is called the meadowsweet, the medushnik for its exceptional honey-bearing qualities. During flowering, the plant exudes a dizzying, sweet aroma, attracts many insects. The culture is a hybrid of pink meadowsweet species grown in open ground. Meadowsweet is considered one of the most unpretentious garden giants.

Beautifully blooming meadowsweet – the perfect landscape decor

Description and characteristics

Moisture-loving meadowsweet (meadowsweet) prefers well-moistened, loose soil. Under favorable conditions, the plant grows rapidly, forms dense thickets. Garden pink meadowsweet is characterized by the following features:

• the root system is short, fibrous, creeping, with filiform processes and nodules;
• bush height up to 1,5 m;
• stems erect, smooth, leafy, rigid;
• leaves are large, intermittently pinnatipartite;
• leaf color: top – dark green, underside – white felt;
• peduncles long, strong, erect;
• the number of inflorescences on one shoot is up to 8 pieces;
• inflorescences are voluminous, paniculate, dense, with numerous small flowers;
• inflorescence length up to 15 cm;
• flowers are bisexual, five-petalled, with long stamens;
• flower diameter up to 1 cm;
• the color of the inflorescences is pink;
• the aroma is pleasant, vanilla-honey, subtle;
• flowering period – from July to August;
• the fruit is a spiral multileaf.

In hot, dry weather, the leaves of the pink-flowered meadowsweet (meadowsweet) temporarily dry out, protecting the bush from a critical loss of natural moisture. The plant prefers well-lit, abundantly moist areas with loose, permeable soil. In the shade, the meadowsweet practically does not bloom.

Delicate lace of pink meadowsweet flowers fills the air with an inviting honey-vanilla aroma.

Planting and caring for pink meadowsweet

Pink meadowsweet (meadowsweet) is an unpretentious culture that successfully grows and develops without much human intervention. Knowing the basic rules of planting and care, you can grow chic bushes of pink meadowsweet, which decorate the local area with endless flowering all summer long.

Meadowsweet annually releases flower stalks, subject to the right choice of location.

Terms of planting

When choosing bushes or root plots of pink meadowsweet in nurseries or specialized stores, one should remember that perennial plants most easily endure autumn or spring planting. The period of adaptation and engraftment of the root system is more successful in the cool season.

Site and soil requirements

Experienced gardeners recommend paying special attention to the selection of the location of the pink meadowsweet. Abundant, long-term, annual flowering is guaranteed with the right choice of site:

• open, well-lit places or areas of the garden with little shading;
• a thick layer of drainage, subject to close groundwater;
• close proximity to wetlands, artificial or natural reservoirs.

Pink decorative meadowsweet (meadowsweet) prefers neutral, non-acidic, nutritious, loose, permeable, abundantly moist soil. When preparing planting holes, you can add wood ash or lime to neutralize acidity, as well as add river sand, natural humus or compost.

In conditions of absolute shading, decorative honey plant “refuses” to bloom

Landing and aftercare

Meadowsweet (meadowsweet) pink can reproduce by seed and vegetative methods (by dividing part of the rhizome or bush). Plot planting is one of the most popular perennial growing methods.

The division of the bush and rhizome allows you to fully preserve the varietal characteristics of an ornamental plant

Planting from seeds

Pink garden meadowsweet (meadowsweet) can be grown from seeds collected at home or purchased in specialized stores. Perennial seeds remain viable for 5-6 years. Seed propagation has its own difficulties, since meadowsweet seed is highly sensitive to light. For this reason, the seeds are sown in shady areas, as they grow, they are moved to a permanent place.

Seed material is placed in the ground before winter. Such a technique of agricultural technology allows for natural hardening and stratification.

Algorithm for sowing seeds in the ground:

• time – October-November;
• the site is cleared of weeds;
• the soil is abundantly moistened;
• seeds are buried up to 5 cm;
• landing scheme – 30 x40 cm.

Pink meadowsweet, like other varieties of perennial meadowsweet, when grown from seeds, is characterized by slow growth and development. The first shoots appear only in early May. By the end of the vegetative season, 4-5 leaves are formed on young plants. Flowering occurs at 2-3 years of age.

Spring sowing of meadowsweet seeds in open ground is not always successful, so experienced flower growers recommend sowing before winter

Planting plots

The division of the bush of pink meadowsweet is best done in the autumn, after the end of flowering. You can independently replant the plots in early spring (March-April). Plants grown in this way will begin to please with flowering much later than those bushes that were planted in open ground before winter.

Planting algorithm for pink meadowsweet plots:

• the mother bush is completely dug out of the ground;
• the root system, together with the ground part, is separated using sharp garden tools;
• places of cuts are treated with wood ash;
• plots are placed in open ground immediately to prevent winding of the roots;
• the distance between plots is more than 50 cm;
• depth of landing holes – up to 5 cm;
• drainage is placed at the bottom of the landing hole;
• the hole is abundantly moistened;
• the root system is placed horizontally, the kidneys should be directed upwards.

Pink decorative meadowsweet is a rather aggressive culture. Adult bushes can “clog” the nearest neighbors, quickly spreading and occupying all the free space.

Meadowsweet can be placed in a large container or limit the planting hole with non-woven material, roofing material

Aftercare

The most difficult period for pink garden meadowsweet (meadowsweet) is dry summer days. During this period, meadowsweet bushes require additional watering. Despite the fact that the plant has established itself as a “lover of water”, pink meadowsweet does not tolerate stagnant moisture in the root system. The culture feels comfortable in moist, but loose and oxygenated soil. In the conditions of the European summer, the decorative garden perennial needs universal care:

• watering at least 1 time per week;
• loosening the soil around the bushes with each watering to prevent stagnation;
• mulching to preserve moisture and protect horses from exposure;
• feeding with organic or mineral fertilizers (superphosphate, potassium sulfate) 1-2 times during the growing season;
• transplantation with the renewal of bushes – every 6-7 years;
• preparation for wintering, autumn pruning of shoots (frost-resistant bushes do not require shelter for the winter).

Since the root system of the pink-flowered meadowsweet (meadowsweet) grows intensively upward every year, it is necessary to periodically pour fertilized soil or organic mulch under the bush to prevent complete exposure of the root system.

Diseases and pests

Pink meadowsweet (meadowsweet), like other varieties of the elmous species, exhibit stable immunity to pests and pathogens. In rare cases, with gross violations of the rules of care, the decorative perennial is infected with the following ailments:

1. Mučnistaâ rosa, affects the hard leaf plates of the pink meadowsweet. The disease is manifested by the presence of a white coating on the upper green part of the leaves. The sprawling bush gradually fades, loses its gorgeous foliage, the intensity and duration of flowering decreases. For the prevention of powdery mildew, as well as at an early stage of fungal infection, colloidal sulfur is used.
   
   

   Pink meadowsweet bushes completely affected by powdery mildew should be dug up and burned, the planting site should be disinfected

2. Rust – a fungal disease, the manifestation of which begins with gray, brown, brown spots on the basal foliage. Timely measures with the rapid detection of the disease at an early stage can prevent the loss of the bush.
   
   

   Copper sulfate, slaked lime, as well as modern fungicides are easy-to-use preparations that allow you to effectively and quickly get rid of the appearance of rust on the bushes of a pink garden meadowsweet

Due to weeds, insects can attack plants:

1. aphid – a well-known sucking pest that lives in huge colonies on the foliage and inflorescences of the meadowsweet. Meadowsweet bushes affected by aphids lose their decorative appeal.
   
   

   Folk remedies (spraying with tinctures of wormwood, tomato tops, tobacco, soap), along with universal insecticides, effectively get rid of insects on pink meadowsweet bushes

2. Wireworm (Elateridae) is the larva of the click beetle. The pest feeds on the roots of the pink meadowsweet. As a result of damage to the underground part, the foliage and stems wither, the bush dies.
   
   

   The most popular and inexpensive measure for the prevention and control of wireworm on pink meadowsweet bushes is the annual spring liming of the soil.

Tavolga pink in landscape design

Modern landscape designers quite often use the undeservedly forgotten pink meadowsweet (meadowsweet) to decorate the garden, the local area, assigning various roles to the plant:

• decoration of artificial reservoirs, planting along the perimeter, along the coastline;
• camouflage of walls, various architectural forms;
• hedge;
• delimitation of zones;
• in the background, mixborders, prefabricated flower beds;
• in the foreground – against the background of trees or shrubs, other tall herbaceous perennials;
• for single author’s landings against the backdrop of picturesque lawns, lawns;
• for group design compositions.

In the garden, pink-flowered meadowsweet can be planted next to hydrangea, dicenter, irises, lilies, astilbes, carnations, loosestrife, volzhanka, hosts, ferns. In the photo – pink meadowsweet in combination with other decorative perennials.

Blooming pink panicles of the meadowsweet (meadowsweet) look beautiful next to the white-flowering varieties of this crop

Conclusion

Pink meadowsweet is a perennial from the line of modern garden giants. Culture requires a minimum of attention to itself. At the same time, violent flowering lasts about 1,5-2 months. You can envelop the most problematic areas of the local area with a pink haze in order to hide old buildings, unaesthetic architectural forms. The plant needs sufficient sunlight and moderate watering.