Great Design Plant: Discover Queen of the Prairie's Sweet Aroma
If you like the look of cotton candy and the smell of roses and want an easy perennial, you're in luck with this plant
Benjamin Vogt
July 24, 2013
Houzz Contributor. I'm a big advocate for bringing the tallgrass prairie into our urban lives -- only 1% remains, making it more threatened than the Amazon rainforest yet also as effective at sequestering CO2. I own Monarch Gardens LLC, a prairie garden design firm based in Nebraska and working with clients across the Midwest. I also speak nationally on native plants, sustainable design, and landscape ethics while hosting online classes. I'm the author of A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain Future. In the coming years we want to restore a 40+ acre prairie and host an artist residency program.
Houzz Contributor. I'm a big advocate for bringing the tallgrass prairie into our... More
Queen of the Prairie is a slowly spreading perennial that loves moisture. Its frothy pink bloom fills the garden with an exquisite perfume for one to two weeks in midsummer. Consider Queen of the Prairie if you’re looking for a colorful and sweet-smelling addition to a rain garden or sensory garden.
Botanical name: Filipendula rubra
Common name: Queen of the Prairie
Origin: Native to the central and eastern Great Plains, the Midwest, the East Coast and New England
Where it will grow: Hardy to -40 degrees Fahrenheit (USDA zones 3 to 8; find your zone)
Water requirement: Medium to wet clay and loam
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Mature size: 4 to 5 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide
Benefits and tolerances: Easy perennial; stabilizes soil; slowly spreads to form colony; rain garden plant
Seasonal interest: Good two-week bloom period in midsummer, strong and sweet scent, unique flowering
When to plant: Spring to fall
Common name: Queen of the Prairie
Origin: Native to the central and eastern Great Plains, the Midwest, the East Coast and New England
Where it will grow: Hardy to -40 degrees Fahrenheit (USDA zones 3 to 8; find your zone)
Water requirement: Medium to wet clay and loam
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Mature size: 4 to 5 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide
Benefits and tolerances: Easy perennial; stabilizes soil; slowly spreads to form colony; rain garden plant
Seasonal interest: Good two-week bloom period in midsummer, strong and sweet scent, unique flowering
When to plant: Spring to fall
Distinguishing traits. Queen of the Prairie has puffy, cotton candy blooms that are unlike any other flowering perennial. What really makes this plant stand out is the scent — a very sweet rose scent that's better than a rose. If you have a clump of this in a corner or near a path, walking by it will fill your senses with a wonderful fragrance.
How to use it. Plant in the back of a border or as a massed plant. It makes a perfect backdrop for low plants, but also looks neat among short grasses. Be sure to also enjoy its fall color, as seen above.
Planting notes. Filipendula needs a consistently moist soil, from wet to medium (but not dry at any point). It will let you know if it's too dry by turning crispy brown in a hurry, so use it in a rain garden or low area where water tends to collect for a short period.
It will very slowly spread to form a colony in clay, and will spread moderately in loam, so plan accordingly. It is not overly aggressive, and easily pulls out by hand where you don't want it.
Planting notes. Filipendula needs a consistently moist soil, from wet to medium (but not dry at any point). It will let you know if it's too dry by turning crispy brown in a hurry, so use it in a rain garden or low area where water tends to collect for a short period.
It will very slowly spread to form a colony in clay, and will spread moderately in loam, so plan accordingly. It is not overly aggressive, and easily pulls out by hand where you don't want it.
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I converted one of our downspouts into a rain chain and planted this beautiful plant this spring. It's been loving the rain and I've been loving its unique bubblegum pink flower! Thanks for the introduction!
Hi Benjamin,
I'm a big fan of yours, and garden with mostly natives here in New England. But I did want to remind people in my area that there are lovely native roses (I have several Virginia roses that bees love.)
But also, I feel that sometimes there are times it may make sense to use some non-natives that support lepidoptera. For example, Artemisia stelleriana is a preferred host for the American lady, and is easier to grow and find than its native host, antennaria I have tried. I can't even find the other native host, pussytoes, even at Garden in the Woods. And the black swallowtails definitely seem to prefer fennel over the zizia aurea I have tried--I wouldn't plant fennel if I lived near woods, etc but I live in a pretty urban setting so it's unlikely to take over. And according to Tallamy, it seems crabapples, whatever their origin, have similar leaf chemistry and so all will support our native lepidoptera.