Homegrown Habitat, June 2025: Spiraeas — Meadowsweet and Steeplebush

Meadowsweet. This shrub amd steeplebush are members of the rose family, are hosts and nectar sources for the spring azure butterfly, as well as 85 other species of butterflies and moths. Photo by Ayotte, Gilles, 1948- – Bibliothèque de l’Université Laval, CC BY-SA 4.0

Homegrown Habitat is written by Sarah Middeleer, a landscape designer and a member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Audubon Society. Write to her at homegrown@ctaudubon.org.

Gardeners have long been familiar with Spiraeas (often spelled spirea) of Asian origin, but our indigenous Spiraeas, meadowsweet and steeplebush, are excellent garden plants.

Even though these deciduous shrubs typically grow in moist, acidic soils, they are adaptable to drier sites. They don’t get very large and have a long flowering period. And, unlike their imported cousins, meadowsweet and steeplebush feed many caterpillars, pollinators, and birds.

Meadowsweet
Spiraea alba is native to much of the Northeast, upper Midwest, and Canada. An upland variety, which takes drier soils, is labeled S. alba var. latifolia; S. alba is used to identify the wetland variety. Meadowsweet grows from two feet to four feet high in soils that range from sandy to loamy and clayey. This adaptable shrub can thus be found in open fields, bogs, salty coastal environments, and along streambanks.

Its small, fragrant, five-petaled flowers are white to pale pink and appear from June to September in pyramidal clusters at the ends of upright branches. The fruits hold five brown capsules called follicles, each with one seed, that split open when dry.The medium-green leaves turn gold in the fall. Meadowsweet is a good replacement for Japanese spirea.

Steeplebush (also called rosy meadowsweet and hardhack)

Spiraea tomentosa is native from Nova Scotia south to Louisiana and Georgia. The tall flower spires have a similar form to those of meadowsweet, but they are bright pink and bloom a bit later—August to September.

When not in flower the two species can be identified by the undersides of their leaves; those of steeplebush are tomentose (fuzzy) and white or brown, whereas meadowsweet’s leaves are smooth and green underneath. Otherwise steeplebush closely resembles its white-flowered cousin in size, seed production, and yellow fall color.

Steeplebush also typically grows in moist meadows, forests, thickets, bogs, and sandy areas but is adaptable to drier sites. It too will tolerate clay. Steeplebush is a good replacement for the nonnative butterflybush and is far more valuable ecologically.

Steeplebush. Meadowsweet and steeplebush can go in many garden locations due to their modest size and adaptability to different conditions. Photo by Eric Hunt – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Meadowsweet and steeplebush, members of the rose family, are hosts and nectar sources for the spring azure butterfly, as well as 85 other species of butterflies and moths. Songbirds feed these caterpillars to their young, and many of them later eat the Spiraea seeds. Fortunately, these shrubs are considered deer resistant.

The native Spiraeas have been used medicinally to treat gastrointestinal problems. Meadowsweet has been used to relieve pain and to fight inflammation and skin conditions, and its tea is said to be a traditional remedy for colds and flu.

Meadowsweet and steeplebush can go in many garden locations due to their modest size and adaptability to different conditions. From foundation or walkway plantings to low hedges, mixed borders and rain gardens, in full sun to part shade, these shrubs offer design flexibility and ecological function.

They can even be grown more like perennials than shrubs, since they respond well to being cut back heavily. Pruning should be done in late winter or early spring. Where you don’t want colonies to form, suckers will need to be removed.

Some gardeners love perennial borders with a pink, blue, and white palette, and these Spiraeas would make terrific additions. Good companions include great blue lobelia, penstemons, blue mist flower, culver’s root, garden phlox, purple coneflower, swamp milkweed, New York ironweed, and asters. Allow the lovely native annual fleabane daisy to sprinkle itself among the crowd.

These plants will make a cool-toned summer border that will delight people, bees, butterflies, moths, and birds alike.

Resources
Books
Neil Diboll and Hilary Cox, The Gardener’s Guide to Prairie Plants, The University of Chicago Press, 2023
Anna Fialkoff, Native Shrubs for Northeast Landscapes, Wild Seed Project, 2023

Websites
Meadowsweet

Spiraea alba (White Meadowsweet)

Spiraea alba – Plant Finder

Spiraea alba (Meadowsweet, Narrowleaf Meadowsweet, White Meadowsweet) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox

Spiraea alba Meadowsweet | Prairie Moon Nursery

Spiraea alba (white meadowsweet): Go Botany

Native Plant Profile: White Meadowsweet (Spiraea alba)

https://plantids.com/2839-spiraea-alba.html

Spiraea alba Meadowsweet | Prairie Moon Nursery

Steeplebush

Spiraea tomentosa

Spiraea tomentosa – Plant Finder