I love culinary rue* and use a lot of it around fruit trees (supposedly it repels Japanese beetles but I have a plum tree with some thoughts to share on that point.)
The smokey blue color is astounding, the shape of the leaves is weird and elegant and unlike anything else in the garden. The color holds all summer and well into November, contrasting beautifully with the muted brown leaves of late fall.
It’s a host plant for swallowtail butterflies (like dill and parsley) and otherwise pest free. It’s a lousy cut flower, unfortunately, because the foliage is so lovely. I think the structure to surface area ratio causes it to loose moisture quickly.
It causes photodermatitis – badly, for some people – but I’ve never had an issue because I don’t touch it with bare hands. I do feel awkward having to warn people to enjoy it with their eyes. I also use it near roses, especially thorny rugosas, because no one wants to go near them anyway. On the other hand, the yard is filled with poison ivy, and poison ivy and I have a good working relationship, and the sap from elephant ears and butterfly weed can also cause dermatitis. So we’re all snowflakes.
They do wonderfully in drought and although they are technically short lived (at least, outside of the mediterranean) have done well here in Zone 5 on acid soil for years. They can be cut back like sage in spring to regrow, but left to their own devices will resprout from the framework of their branches. I do either or both, depending on my mood that year.
They have nondescript sulfur-yellow flowers and self-sow readily. Again, I shear those off or leave them, depending.
I love their piney scent but some people find it objectionable, like marigolds.
*confusingly, meadow rues are in the genus Thalictrum and are unrelated. They are also marvelous and I use them everywhere. I’ll do a post about them as well. But anyway, same name, totally different:
