The flowers and buds of Queen-of-the-Prairie (Filipendula rubra) are peaking into their cotton candy phase (inflorescence). This plant, also called Prairie Dropwort, was used by Native Americans as an aphrodisiac.
It’s native to the United States, but not New England, where it was introduced probably in the 19th Century. Some of it grows wild in our fields, but more forms of it are seen in gardens. The Queens soon will fade, so, we took this image to put in our stack of summer color memories that we’ll conjure back during our next gray February. (Brooklin, Maine)