Thalictrum Species, False Rhubarb, Yellow Meadow Rue

Best part, it is a host plant for Swallow tail butterflies.

We bought a specimen of this plant years ago at the botanical garden in Santa Barbara, California. It has done exceptionally well among...Read More our live oak trees. The plant has spread out to an area of a dozen feet in width. The foliage lasts year-round, and produces the yellow blossoms in the spring. Our plants are about four feet in height -- lovely blue-green with a sense of rustic appeal. No trouble at all -- just a dependable delight in the garden.

This is definitely not the most beautiful of the Thalictrums (which it's Latin species name suggests), but it is tough. I would recommen...Read Mored it most as a meadow plant. It's a bit too rugged looking for a formal garden. The flowers do have a strong, not-unpleasant fragrance, which is unusual among Ranunculaceae. Probably the biggest plus of this plant is the fact that bees apparently think it is utterly intoxicating and irresistable. Think of it as catnip for your pollinators. It is tough as nails during the winter, but is vulnerable after blooming to bugs and such. It turns yellow-brown and withers away. Because I tidy up, I rarely have many standing by August. If any seeds survive, I scatter them around and find that these do very well. I have some growing inbetween rudbeckias and echinaceas in a small meadow garden. That works well. Give it fertilizer, sun and reasonable water. It is easy in the Minneapolis area, even without mulch for winter.

A clump forming perennial from South West Europe and North Africa.

Has blue-green, lobed, hairless leaflets, with prominen...Read Moret veins on long graceful stems. Bears loose panicles of tiny, scented, yellow flowers.

Flowers June-August.

Likes a cool, moist, fertile soil in partial shade but will tolerate drier soils and a bit more sun than most Thalictrums.