White Meadowsweet

Cone-shaped clusters of small white flowers open in summer on this native shrub, held above narrow bright green leaves. Spiraea alba var. latifolia grows 2 to 4 feet tall and wide in full sun to part sun, hardy from Zone 3 through Zone 7.

Bloom runs from June into August, longer than most native shrubs, and bees and butterflies come to the flowers steadily through it.

The seedheads turn brown and hold on the plant into winter, giving some structure once the leaves drop.

Meadowsweet grows wild in wet meadows, ditches, and along stream edges, so it takes wet ground and clay, and it also handles ordinary garden soil that stays moist. It spreads slowly into a clump. Deer leave it alone.