Content
Pink meadowsweet is a popular ornamental perennial belonging to the species of meadowsweet (F. ulmaria). The scientific name Filipendula rosea literally means “hanging threads”. The root system of meadowsweet consists of numerous small nodules hanging on thread-like roots (hence the name of the plant). Meadowsweet is popularly called meadowsweet and meadowsweet for its exceptional honey-bearing qualities. During flowering, the plant emits a dizzying, sweet aroma and attracts many insects. The culture is a hybrid of pink-flowered meadowsweet species grown in open ground. Meadowsweet is considered one of the most unpretentious garden giants.
Beautifully blooming meadowsweet is an ideal landscape decor
Description and characteristics
The moisture-loving meadowsweet (meadowsweet) prefers well-moistened, loose soil. Under favorable conditions, the plant grows quickly and forms dense thickets. Garden pink meadowsweet is characterized by the following characteristics:
- the root system is short, fibrous, creeping, with thread-like processes and nodules;
- bush height up to 1.5 m;
- stems are erect, smooth, leafy, hard;
- leaves are large, intermittently pinnately divided;
- leaf color: top - dark green, underside - white tomentose;
- peduncles are long, strong, erect;
- the number of inflorescences on one shoot is up to 8 pieces;
- the inflorescences are voluminous, paniculate, dense, with numerous small flowers;
- inflorescence length up to 15 cm;
- flowers are bisexual, five-petaled, with long stamens;
- flower diameter up to 1 cm;
- inflorescence color pink;
- the aroma is pleasant, vanilla-honey, subtle;
- flowering period - from July to August;
- the fruit is a spiral-shaped multi-leaflet.
In hot, dry weather, the leaves of the pink 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. Meadowsweet practically does not bloom in the shade.
Graceful lace of pink meadowsweet flowers fills the air with an alluring honey-vanilla aroma
Planting and caring for pink meadowsweet
Pink meadowsweet (meadowsweet) is an unpretentious crop that successfully grows and develops without much human intervention. Knowing the basic rules of planting and care, you can grow gorgeous pink meadowsweet bushes that decorate your home area with endless blooms all summer long.
Meadowsweet produces peduncles every year if the location is chosen correctly.
Landing dates
When choosing bushes or root plots of pink meadowsweet in nurseries or specialized stores, you should remember that perennial plants tolerate autumn or spring planting most easily. The period of adaptation and engraftment of the root system is more successful in the cool season.
Requirements for place and soil
Experienced gardeners recommend paying special attention to choosing a location for pink meadowsweet. Abundant, long-lasting, annual flowering is guaranteed with the right choice of site:
- open, well-lit places or areas of the garden with slight shading;
- a thick layer of drainage provided that groundwater is close to the groundwater;
- close proximity to marshy areas, artificial or natural reservoirs.
Pink ornamental 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 high acidity, as well as add river sand, natural humus or compost.
In conditions of absolute shading, the decorative honey plant “refuses” to bloom
Planting and subsequent care
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 methods of growing perennials.
Dividing the bush and rhizome allows you to completely 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 material is highly sensitive to light. For this reason, seeds are sown in shaded areas and, as they grow, moved to a permanent place.
Seed material is placed in the ground before winter.This method of agricultural technology allows for natural hardening and stratification.
Algorithm for sowing seeds in the ground:
- time - October-November;
- the area is cleared of weeds;
- the soil is moistened abundantly;
- seeds are buried up to 5 cm;
- planting pattern - 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 growing 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 gardeners recommend sowing before winter
Planting plots
It is best to divide the pink meadowsweet bush in the autumn, after flowering has ended. You can replant plots yourself in early spring (March-April). Plants grown in this way will begin to bloom much later than those bushes that were planted in open ground before winter.
Algorithm for planting plots of pink meadowsweet:
- the mother bush is completely dug out of the ground;
- the root system along with the ground part is separated using sharp garden tools;
- cut areas are treated with wood ash;
- the plots are placed in open ground immediately to prevent weathering of the roots;
- the distance between plots is more than 50 cm;
- depth of planting holes - up to 5 cm;
- drainage is placed at the bottom of the planting hole;
- the hole is moistened abundantly;
- The root system is placed horizontally, the buds should be directed upward.
Pink ornamental meadowsweet is a rather aggressive crop.Mature bushes can “clog” their closest neighbors, quickly spreading and occupying all available space.
Meadowsweet can be placed in a large container or the planting hole can be limited with non-woven material, roofing felt
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 “water lover,” pink meadowsweet does not tolerate stagnation of moisture in the root system. The culture feels comfortable in moist, but loose and oxygenated soil. In European summer conditions, decorative garden perennials require universal care:
- watering at least once a 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;
- replanting with 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 pink meadowsweet (meadowsweet) intensively grows upward every year, it is necessary to periodically add 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 elm-leaved species, exhibit stable immunity to pests and pathogens. In rare cases, in case of gross violations of the rules of care, decorative perennials become infected with the following ailments:
- Powdery mildew, affects the hard leaf blades of pink meadowsweet. The disease is manifested by the presence of a white coating on the upper green part of the leaves. The spreading bush gradually fades, loses its gorgeous foliage, and the intensity and duration of flowering decreases. To prevent powdery mildew, as well as at the early stages of fungal infection, colloidal sulfur is used.
Bushes of roseate meadowsweet completely affected by powdery mildew should be dug up and burned, and the planting site should be disinfected
- Rust - a fungal disease, the manifestation of which begins with gray, brown, brown spots on the basal foliage. Timely measures with 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 can effectively and quickly get rid of rust on pink meadowsweet bushes.
Because of weeds, insects can attack plants:
- Aphid is a well-known sucking pest that lives in huge colonies on the foliage and inflorescences of 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 rose meadowsweet bushes
- Wireworm (Elateridae) is the larva of the click beetle. The pest feeds on the roots of pink meadowsweet. As a result of damage to the underground part, the foliage and stems wither and the bush dies.
The most popular and inexpensive measure for the prevention and control of wireworms on rose meadowsweet bushes is the annual spring liming of the soil.
Pink meadowsweet in landscape design
Modern landscape designers quite often use the undeservedly forgotten pink meadowsweet (meadowsweet) to decorate the garden and local area, assigning various roles to the plant:
- decoration of artificial reservoirs, planting along the perimeter, along the coastline;
- camouflage walls, various architectural forms;
- hedge;
- zone delimitation;
- in the background there are mixborders and prefabricated flower beds;
- in the foreground - against the background of trees or shrubs, other tall herbaceous perennials;
- for single designer plantings against the backdrop of picturesque lawns and lawns;
- for group design compositions.
In the garden, pink-flowered meadowsweet can be planted next to hydrangea, dicentra, irises, lilies, astilbes, carnations, loosestrife, Volzhanka, hosts, and ferns. In the photo - pink meadowsweet in combination with other decorative perennials.
Blooming pink panicles of 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. In this case, violent flowering lasts about 1.5-2 months. You can envelop the most problematic areas of the local area with a pink haze to hide old buildings and unaesthetic architectural forms. The plant requires sufficient sunlight and moderate watering.
