I was intrigued by lavender mist meadow rue (Thalictrum rochebrunianum) plants I saw growing in a tour garden almost two decades ago now. I’m always on the lookout for anything that can thrive in part-shade, so I decided to try growing a couple.
Lavender mist meadow rue has delicate little lavender flowers that bumblebees adore. The foliage sits low on the plant and looks like columbine.
These days I have several plants growing in just about every flowerbed in my yard, but I never had to divide a single plant or purchase additional plants to get them. They self-seeded (but don’t worry, they are not at all aggressive)!
These plants prefer part-shade but can grow in full sun if they are kept well-watered. They are considered a “see-through” plant because even though they can get as tall as 6 to 8 feet, it doesn’t matter where you put them in a bed or garden. The stems are so tall and thin that they really don’t block other plants. I usually just let them grow wherever they pop up.
This particular volunteer only gets sun in the late afternoon, and it’s located under a serviceberry:
This one gets a half-day of full sun including the hottest part of the day:
This one gets morning sun and afternoon shade, and it grows the tallest and fullest:
I usually stake my plants because once they reach about 5 feet tall they can be damaged in a windy thunderstorm.
This spring I noticed that this one had two stems with leaves that were black on the end—a sure sign of frost damage. A couple of weeks later I noticed new foliage emerging from damaged areas, so perhaps they will still bloom after all.
Meadow rue can usually be found in the perennial shade section of garden centers. The plants are hardy in Zones 4-8.