Meadow rue

Meadow rue

The meadow rue plant is often used to introduce you to bloodroot, or a member of the Caprifoliaceae family. Meadow rue can be seen throughout the US but the plant is really abundant and easy to find in Oklahoma.Majestic, tall and slender, Thalictrum rochebrunianum (Meadow Rue) is favored for its lacy, refined, bluish-green foliage and its airy open clusters of pendulous, lavender flowers with conspicuous soft-yellow centers and gorgeous sturdy purple stems. Adding elegant vertical lines to the garden and clouds of rosy-lavender blooms, it blooms later than other Meadow Rues, from mid to late summer, but longer (up to 6 weeks). Being a 'see through' plant, this Meadow rue is quite versatile and may be placed in front of drifts of shorter perennials or at the back of borders where it will act as a delightful foil.

Plant

Generally, Meadow Rue grows two to four feet wide. Space the plant accordingly. Varieties any taller than five feet tall should be staked to keep the plants from falling over. A more holistic approach is to arrange in groups of three or more so the stems can support each other as they do in the wild. This airy plant offers lush foliage as a background perennial border, amid a wildflower garden or, as the name suggests, a meadow.Thalictrum rochebruneanum is a slender herbaceous perennial that typically reaches heights between four and six feet, while spanning up to two feet wide.

It features a lovely purple stem that bears glabrous leaves and a delicate apical spray of lavender flowers that appear in late June. The plants in this genus are dioecious, meaning that the male and female reproductive parts are on two separate plants. Due to the incredible golden-yellow stamens that peek through the fragile sepals in July and August, the male plants are a favorite here throughout Reiman Gardens. With its elegant architecture, delightful, lacy foliage, and impressive floral display, Thalictrum, or meadow rue, is a plant that is not to be overlooked. The enchanting meadow rue is within Ranunculaceae, a rather dream-like plant family that boasts genera including Aquilegia (columbine), Anemone, Delphinium (larkspur), and Ranunculus (buttercup). The genus name Thalictrum, meaning ‘to flourish’, was named by Linnaeus in 1753 and is often appreciated for its dainty woodland vegetation and the airy grace of its flowers. (Source: www.reimangardens.com)