Double dropwort
Filipendula vulgaris 'Multiplex' · Rosaceae
A flat rosette of carrot-like, finely cut leaves, and above it loose heads of double, creamy flowers opening from pink buds.
- Size
- 18 in tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Early June to early July
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around double dropwort
The planner designed this bed around double dropwort when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why double dropwort stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Double dropwort × 3, white
- 2 Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' × 8, pink
- 3 Sedum 'Lidakense' × 20, pink
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 5 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 3, purple
- 6 Blue oat grass × 1, tan
- 7 Lady tulip × 12, red
- 8 Schubert's allium × 3, pink
Why this plant
- The only airy sprays. The others are dense clusters, daisies, plumes and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- A classic partner for blue oat grass. Both are on this plan. A pairing gardeners have proved outranks a general rule.
- The only white. White sits between stronger colours and calms them.
Why here
- In the middle. At 18 in it is the step between sedum 'Lidakense' (4 in) in front and Tatarian aster 'Jindai' (4 ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- A step in the back row. Next to Tatarian aster 'Jindai' (4 ft) and blue oat grass (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for five weeks. From early June to early July.
- Part of the bed's peak. With Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch', blue oat grass and Schubert's allium in early June: 4 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 4 of the 6 groups (67%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The scheme leans cool (pink and purple) and uses yellow and red for warmth, with white and tan to calm things between them. Blue oat grass stands beside double dropwort, a proven pairing.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where double dropwort goes in a border
At 18 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is short (12 to 18 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The one meadowsweet for dry soil and full sun. The ferny rosette makes a good edging, and the double flowers last twice as long as the single.
- Fine foliage at the front of a dry border
- Cottage gardens
- Cutting
What to plant with double dropwort
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for five weeks, from early June; spires rising out of its mound; happy in the same dry soil.
- Bloody cranesbill: in flower together for five weeks, from early June.
- Blue oat grass: in flower together for five weeks, from early June; tall enough (2½ ft) to stand behind it; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about double dropwort
Does double dropwort need sun or shade?
Double dropwort grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does double dropwort grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does double dropwort flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early June to early July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Mid June to mid July |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Mid June to mid July |
| Zone 5 | Early June to early July |
| Zone 6 | Early June to early July |
| Zone 7 | Late May to late June |
| Zone 8 | Late May to late June |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should double dropwort be planted?
16 in (40 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 18 in (45 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many double dropwort plants do I need?
At 16 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 7 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 8 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 21 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is there a native plant like double dropwort?
Double dropwort is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Tickseed 'Early Sunrise': the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers early June to late August, yellow, not white.
- Iceland poppy: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 6 in narrower, flowers early May to late June.
- Blanket flower 'Mesa Yellow': the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers mid June to early October, yellow, not white.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after double dropwort?
Double dropwort is over by early July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall.
- Daylily: from late June to early August, 2½ ft tall.
What does double dropwort look like in winter?
Double dropwort dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Filipendula
- Dwarf meadowsweet 'Kahome' Filipendula 'Kahome'
- Japanese meadowsweet Filipendula purpurea
- Meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria
- Queen of the prairie Filipendula rubra 'Venusta'
In these guides
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 18 in (45 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 16 in (40 cm) apart
- Height class
- Short (12 to 18 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Early June to early July; airy sprays; white, cream
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; dark green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Rosaceae
Checked against VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.