Botanical name: Filipendula ulmaria   
Folk names: Queen-of-the-meadows, meadsweet
Sun or shade
Perennial, flowers June to September

Decorative merit: Sweetly almond-scented white flowers, tinged with yellowish-green grow in crowded clusters. Fragrant leaves are dark, shiny and fern-like. 60-120cm high.

Where: Pond margins and in moisture-retentive soil. pond margins. Grows well with ragged robin.

Wildlife: Pollen for bees, butterflies and moths attracted by its sweet scent.

Culture: Elizabethan strewing herb and believed to be a favourite of the red-haired queen. Used to flavour mead and wine and added to pot-pourri.

Donate seeds to Exeter Seed Bank