This lovely pink/peach-hued cloud of a flower cluster belongs to the Filipendula. More commonly known as the Queen of the Prairie, she holds these flower umbrels high above the prairie, upwards of five feet tall. She attains such size and stature when afforded a wet and consistently moist piece of land.
A few years ago I planted this one, and didn’t give her the extra water and care she wanted/needed, so she survived but didn’t thrive. She would return, sending out runners to different locations (never a desirable trait for a struct Virgo gardener, but entirely understandable in a difficult prairie situation). When other plants in her proximity demanded more water, she finally got her happy place and started blooming like this.
That said, those haphazard and unpredictable runners had her popping up all over the place, including at the very front of the border, reserved for smaller edging plants and not conducive to something of this size. I allowed her a few seasons of this, but we’re at the point where all these not-so-little stalks simply have to be pulled.
Another drawback is that without staking, some of the tall stalks end up falling over. If not corrected immediately they will simply bend upward, contorting into all sorts of weird and undesirable angles. With all these issues, I may have to gift this one to someone with an actual prairie where she can roam freely and unfettered.
