# Meadowsweet (Spiraea alba)

> Meadowsweet, Spiraea alba: a shrub of 3 to 6.5 feet for zones 3 to 7, how fast it grows, where it grows wild, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/meadowsweet/

![Fluffy white meadowsweet flower clusters among toothed green leaves on reddish stems](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/meadowsweet-1000.jpg?v=a82d5828 "Meadowsweet in flower at River Denys, Nova Scotia, on July 26, 2022. It blooms from June into September, and its fruits split open in September to free the seeds.")
*Photo: Ryan Hodnett, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AWhite_Meadowsweet_(Spiraea_alba)_-_River_Denys%2C_Nova_Scotia_2022-07-26.jpg))*

Shrub, 3 to 6.5 feet, zones 3 to 7; full sun, part shade or shade; average or wet ground.

We do not grow meadowsweet, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Meadowsweet |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | White meadowsweet, narrowleaf meadowsweet, American meadowsweet, pale bridewort |
| Form | Shrub |
| Height, feet | 3 to 6.5 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 6 |
| Zones | 3 to 7 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Average or wet ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Showy flowers, fall color, wildlife value, hedge or screen |
| Flowers | June to September |
| Fruit | Follicles, September |
| Pollination | Not known whether one bears alone |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Stream banks, swamps and wet flats |
| Native in | 27 states and the District of Columbia |

Meadowsweet is native in 27 states and the District of Columbia: [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [South Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SD), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=meadowsweet): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=meadowsweet): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=meadowsweet&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=meadowsweet): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=meadowsweet): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=meadowsweet): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=meadowsweet): the seed sowing planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=meadowsweet): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its height](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=meadowsweet): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores by the champion-tree formula](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=meadowsweet): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Alderleaf Buckthorn](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/alderleaf-buckthorn/index.html.md) (*Rhamnus alnifolia*): shrub, 2 to 5 feet, zones 3 to 7. Shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Red Osier Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/red-osier-dogwood/index.html.md) (*Cornus sericea*): shrub, 6 to 12 feet, zones 2 to 7. Shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Squashberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/squashberry/index.html.md) (*Viburnum edule*): shrub, 2 to 7 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Sweet Pepperbush (Summersweet)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweet-pepperbush/index.html.md) (*Clethra alnifolia*): shrub, 4 to 8 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Possumhaw Viburnum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/possumhaw-viburnum/index.html.md) (*Viburnum nudum*): shrub, 5 to 12 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Swamp Doghobble](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-doghobble/index.html.md) (*Eubotrys racemosa*): shrub, 4 to 10 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Every companion of meadowsweet in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=meadowsweet)

## Read from

Its figures come from NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the Flora of North America, Go Botany and Illinois Wildflowers.