Meadowsweet - Filipendula ulmaria
Meadowsweet has small, creamy white flowers on long stalks from 3 to 5 feet in height. The flowers often start blooming at the end of June and may send up new flowers through the end of August. The leaves are green on top and whitish on the underneath side. Overall the leaves have a divided fern-like appearance. The whole plant is quite fragrant, with the leaves and flowers each having their own aromatic signature.
Seed-Starting: Seeds can take up to a month to germinate. Then after it does so it seems to just sit there for a month as a tiny plant. Be patient and be sure to keep the seed bed wet. The plant does not germinate in dry soils and since the seed germinates on top of the soil (light dependent) it requires extra vigilance, especially with later seedings. It is much easier for root divisions. I can easily divide a mature plant into twenty starts.
Site: prefers moist soils and partial shade. I would suggest planting it where it gets morning light, but not the desiccating hot afternoon sun. Then during our dry season be sure to water it regularly. This year I am trying some in a rain garden.
Harvest: Harvest the flowering stem in full bloom. The plant will occasionally produce another round of flowers a bit further down so i usually just harvest the top third of a flowering stalk. There are usually multiple flowering stems on each plant so I leave a few flowering stems per plant. I also like taking a few of the basal leaves too, to round out a jar of tincture. I don’t find much taste in the stems so I don’t put them in the medicine
Medicine: In my mind this is THE stomach tonic. The herb soothes and protects the mucous membranes of the digestive tract. It can reduce excess acidity and nausea. Try it for gastritis, where the stomach feels hot and inflamed. It is the only herb I have had success easing heartburn. Also Meadowsweet has a high content of salicylates, the key ingredient in Aspirin which makes it effective as an anti-inflammatory, pain reliever, and fever reducer as well. And Meadowsweet doesn’t tend to cause stomach problems in folks who are aspirin sensitive, not with true aspirin allergies. Yet another example of a plant with a complex chemistry able to do many things and balance itself out.