Meadowsweet :-) Filipendula ulmaria

[Toddy]

It's a beautiful plant; it's a very useful herb, and it grows in damp ground.
My gardens are a haven for plants like this.
I have to dig out the overgrowth on a fairly regular basis. The red roots smell like germolene and they will grow well if kept in a pot, and kept moist.

I know that most aren't allowed to dig up wild plants, but these are growing in my garden; if anyone would like to grow some, let me know ? and I'll pack up some viable bits of root. I'll not send massive stuff, but I will send bits that will fit in a pot.

It'll grow two or three handspans tall, but if you let it flower, it can be a metre and a half tall. Very pretty plant, both leaf and flourish. Must be kept moist though.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Harvestman]

Great plant. Dried leaves and stems make a headache cure if you pour boiling water on them as a team, and is really nice with a spoon of honey added. The leaves are also a traditional flavouring for drinks and ale. Insects love the flowers too.

 

[cranmere]

I love the flowers made into tea, they have a lovely floral honey flavour. The roots and to a lesser extent the leaves and stems contain methyl salicylate which is a close relative of aspirin but there is very little in the flowers.

 

[Toddy]

I use the dried flowers as a natural 'aspirin' type anti inflammatory tea that's gentle on my tummy, the leaves ...not so much....I reckon they're promoted as 'safe' compared to the roots.
The roots however, are amazing. Brilliant painkillers, they make a topical analgesic that stops toothache, that sooths aching joints....and should probably really be used under the guidance of a medical herbalist.
I have essential oil that was wildcrafted from the entire plants. The synergy is so good that a few drops in oil or in a cream is enough to reduce the inflammation of RA in my hands, and to sooth the ache in a friend who has arthritis.
Again though, we use it, but it should probably be under the direction of a medical herbalist.
That said, neither Trisha nor I have had any problems with it, and we've been using it for years now.

I use the leaves and stems for dye. With care I can get almost black from it

Lovely herb, lovely in a strewing mixture for a floor or in the stuffing of a paliasse.

atb,
M

 

[Goatboy]

You'd love it 'round here Mary, the burn sides and pathways are inundated with it. Beautiful smell when wandering on a summer eve.

 

[Toddy]

I'm very fond of the meadowsweet I reckon it grows along every burnside in Scotland

Funny how much we take for granted these lovely plants; the meadowsweet, the sweet gale, sweet cicely, melissa and the like.
An awful lot of cultivated plants have no scent, and it's a great loss.

atb,
M

 

[greensurfingbear]

a ranger colleague I worked with called in Love and Marriage. Smell great but didn't like the taste........