Summer is the perfect time to spot meadowsweet in flower. Growing in damp meadows, along riverbanks and beside ditches, this native wildflower is hard to miss. Its tall stems are topped with frothy clouds of creamy-white flowers and a distinctive sweet scent that drifts through the warm summer air.

While meadowsweet is an attractive part of the summer countryside, it is far more than just a pretty flower. It plays an important role in supporting wildlife, providing food and shelter for a wide range of insects during the peak of the season.

The nectar-rich flowers attract many pollinating insects, including hoverflies, beetles, bees and butterflies. On sunny July days, the flower heads can be alive with activity as insects feed on nectar and pollen. In turn, these insects provide food for birds, bats and other wildlife higher up the food chain.

Meadowsweet is also the foodplant for the caterpillars of several moth species, including the emperor moth, grey pug, lime-speck pug, Hebrew character and satellite moth. Without plants such as meadowsweet, many of these species would struggle to survive. 

Meadowsweet has a fascinating history with people too. The flowers were once prized for their fragrance, with dried blooms strewn across floors to perfume homes and great halls. It was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, who preferred it to straw on her chamber floors. It was used in Anglo-Saxon times to flavour mead, and the plant is thought to have helped give the drink its distinctive taste. 

The flowers can still be used today to flavour drinks and desserts in a similar way to elderflower. Although known for its sweet scent, crushed flowers and leaves can produce a sharper, medicinal smell. The plant also contains compounds similar to those found in aspirin and was once steeped to make soothing teas. 

A member of the rose family, meadowsweet thrives in damp conditions and is often found where water levels naturally rise and fall. Its presence can be a sign of healthy wetlands and traditionally managed meadows.