Last updated on October 23rd, 2023 at 08:41 pm
Meadow rue enchants with its purple flowers. It grows mainly in places with little sunlight, where otherwise hardly any flowering plants thrive. In this article you can read about what you should pay attention to in order for meadow rue to thrive in your garden.
Meadow rue or Thalictrum is a genus of plants that includes about 150 species. Only five to seven of them are suitable for your garden, and only the so-called meadow rue is native to our latitudes. The meadow rue belongs to the buttercup family and is native to large parts of Europe, Africa and Asia.
The plants are often confused with columbine. These are also members of the buttercup family and are very similar in habit.
Meadow rue in your garden
Depending on the environment, meadow rue can reach a stately height of up to 1.80 meters and bloom even in places where hardly anything else grows. You should consider the following points when planting meadow rue:
Location:
- The best place for meadow rue is in a meadow in partial shade. Too little sunlight is not a problem for the species. On the contrary, they can’t handle direct sunlight.
Soil:
- The soil should be nutrient-rich and humus-rich. Meadow rue thrives particularly well in calcareous soils.
- The plants also prefer a well-drained but moist soil. Meadow rue does not do well in dry conditions, but you should also avoid waterlogging.
Plant:
- You can get young meadow rue in well-stocked garden stores.
- It is best to plant them at a distance of about 40 to 50 centimeters. The best time to plant meadow rue is in spring after the last frost.
- Alternatively, you can also grow meadow rue from seed. The seeds are light germinators, so you only need to cover them very thinly with soil or sand.
- Sow the seeds a little more generously and separate them at a later time with the correct spacing.
How to care for meadow rue
Meadow rue is uncomplicated and requires little care. It copes well with winter temperatures and is frost-hardy. With the following tips you can support the plant in its optimal growth:
- Make sure the soil is always well moist. This is especially important during prolonged dry periods.
- Cut back the plant generously after flowering. This will encourage the plant to bloom again. In late autumn, the above-ground part of the meadow rue simply dies off, which you can remove without hesitation.
- Meadow rue is susceptible to aphids. Of course, an earwig house can help with this.
- Powdery mildew can also be a problem for meadow rue. This is usually due to temperatures that are too high for the plant.
- To ensure that the meadow rue is supplied with sufficient nutrients, fertilize it once a year with mature compost.
- If you want to spread meadow rue, you have two options:
The flowers will self-seed and successfully spread on their own. If this is not desirable, you should remove the flower heads.
You can dig up a large plant along with the rhizome and divide it into several small plants. This will also keep the plant healthy. The best time to do this is immediately after flowering.