Japanese meadowsweet
Filipendula purpurea ·
Flat, feathery heads of deep cerise-pink on crimson stems, above large, maple-shaped leaves, in midsummer.
- Size
- 3½ ft tall, 2½ ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 9
- Light
- Part sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late June to early August
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around Japanese meadowsweet
The planner designed this bed around Japanese meadowsweet when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why Japanese meadowsweet stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Japanese meadowsweet × 4, pink
- 2 Creeping mahonia × 4, yellow
- 3 Carpathian bellflower × 8, blue
- 4 Blue wood aster × 5, lavender
- 5 Globe arborvitae 'Danica' × 1, green leaves
- 6 Camassia × 3, white
Why this plant
- The only bold leaves here. The rest are medium and fine. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
- The only plumes. The others are dense clusters, bells, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only pink.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3½ ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to camassia (2½ ft) and blue wood aster (3 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 4 plants in 2 groups (3 and 1). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From late June to early August.
- Part of the bed's peak. With Carpathian bellflower in late June: 2 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 5 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Japanese meadowsweet and blue wood aster anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 49 to 51, left to right. Every line of the Design check comes out Good or better.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 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 Japanese meadowsweet goes in a border
At 3½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The richest colour of any meadowsweet, and a clump-former that stays in place. It gives astilbe-like plumes at twice the height in a moist, lightly shaded bed.
- Plumes for a moist border
- Pond sides
- Bold foliage in part shade
What to plant with Japanese meadowsweet
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Japanese iris: in flower together for three weeks, from late June; medium leaves against its bold ones.
- Ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford': happy in the same moist soil.
- Royal fern: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; medium leaves against its bold ones.
Questions about Japanese meadowsweet
Does Japanese meadowsweet need sun or shade?
Japanese meadowsweet grows in part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and plenty of water.
What zones does Japanese meadowsweet grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 9. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does Japanese meadowsweet flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to early August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early July to early August |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late June to early August |
| Zone 6 | Late June to early August |
| Zone 7 | Late June to late July |
| Zone 8 | Late June to late July |
| Zone 9 | Mid June to mid July |
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 Japanese meadowsweet be planted?
24 in (60 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 2½ ft (75 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3½ ft (110 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Japanese meadowsweet plants do I need?
At 24 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 3 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 6 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 10 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 four in two groups.
Is there a native plant like Japanese meadowsweet?
Japanese meadowsweet is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Swamp milkweed: the same job in a bed, the same size, the same flowering time and the same colour; medium leaves, not bold.
- Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers late July to early September.
- Garden phlox 'Jeana': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers mid July to mid September, medium leaves, not bold.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after Japanese meadowsweet?
Japanese meadowsweet is over by early August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Ligularia 'Britt-Marie Crawford': from early August to early September, 3½ ft tall (a recorded partner).
- Japanese anemone: from mid August to early October, 3 ft tall.
- Tiger lily: from late July to late August, 4 ft tall.
What does Japanese meadowsweet look like in winter?
Japanese meadowsweet 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
- Double dropwort Filipendula vulgaris 'Multiplex'
- Dwarf meadowsweet 'Kahome' Filipendula 'Kahome'
- Meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria
- Queen of the prairie Filipendula rubra 'Venusta'
In these guides
Zone guides: Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3½ ft (110 cm) tall, 2½ ft (75 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late June to early August; feathery plumes; pink, red
- Leaves
- Bold texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 9
- Light
- Part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- High
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. 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.