Filipendula vulgaris
Dropwort is the meadowsweet for gardens that are not wet. Filipendula vulgaris makes a low rosette of finely cut, almost ferny dark green leaves, and sends up branching stems topped with airy sprays of small creamy white flowers, pink-tinged in bud and lightly scented. It is a neater, shorter and more refined plant than its damp-loving relative. Flowering runs November to January.
The fine foliage earns it a place near the front of a border, where it stays presentable all season rather than collapsing after flowering. Use it in cottage gardens, meadow and wildflower planting, chalky and free-draining borders, or through gravel. It reads well beside grasses and low geraniums, and bees work the flower sprays steadily.
Give it sun or dappled shade in fertile, free-draining soil. Unlike meadowsweet it tolerates drier ground, and it grows from a woody, tuberous rootstock that stores moisture and gives it real staying power. It dislikes waterlogged winter soil. Space plants 40 cm apart and lift and divide in early spring only when the clump becomes congested.
Reaches 0.5 to 0.8 m tall in flower with a spread of around 0.4 m.
Trimming: Remove flowering stems at the base once they finish, leaving the basal foliage, which stays looking good into autumn. Cut the whole plant down in late autumn or winter once the leaves brown.
Deadheading: Deadhead as sprays fade to keep the plant tidy and reduce self-sown seedlings. There is no second flush to be gained, so this is about appearance.
Fertilising: A light general fertiliser in early spring is enough. Compost worked in at planting matters more than annual feeding, and rich soil produces taller, softer stems.
Watering: Water through the first summer to establish the tuberous roots. After that it copes with ordinary garden dryness and only needs help in a long dry spell.
Pest Control: Very few problems. Slugs and snails can take new shoots in a wet spring, and aphids occasionally appear on the flower stems.
Disease Management: Powdery mildew is the most likely issue, showing on the lower leaves in a dry, humid season. Space plants for air movement and keep the roots from drying out completely.
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