Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double'
Thalictrum delavayi 'Hewitt's Double' ·
A haze of tiny, double, lilac pompoms, hundreds to a stem, floating above maidenhair-like leaves for two months of late summer.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 7
- Light
- Part sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Mid July to early September
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Weaver
A bed built around Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double'
The planner designed this bed around Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' × 3, purple
- 2 Sedge 'Bunny Blue' × 8, blue-green leaves
- 3 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 26, yellow
- 4 Blue wood aster × 3, lavender
- 5 Korean feather reed grass × 1, pink
- 6 Northern sea oats 'River Mist' × 3, green
- 7 Giant snowdrop × 5, white
- 8 Grecian windflower × 8, blue
Why this plant
- The only fine leaves here. The rest are medium. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
- The only purple.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to blue wood aster (3 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one clump. A single spire is too slight to hold a place alone, so here the accent is a clump.
Why now
- In flower for 9 weeks. From mid July to early September.
- Fills a gap. For two of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 8 of the 8 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Cool colours (purple, lavender, pink and blue) with yellow as the warm note, and green and white to calm things between them. The flowers run from mid February to mid October, but stop for 3 weeks from late June.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 3 Good, 2 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' goes in a border
At 5 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 ft). It is airy enough to see through, so it can also come forward and veil what is behind it.
Its job: weaver. A light, airy plant threaded singly between sturdier ones to knit the planting together.
Purple baby's breath for part shade. It is sterile, so the flowers last, but the stems are weak: grow it through a shrub or between sturdy neighbours.
- A purple haze in late summer
- Growing through shrubs
- Cutting
What to plant with Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Japanese anemone: in flower together for four weeks, from mid August; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Hosta 'Sum and Substance': its chartreuse leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; bold leaves against its fine ones; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it.
- Bugbane 'Brunette': happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double'
Does Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' need sun or shade?
Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' grows in part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 7. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 7 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid July to early September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Mid July to early September |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Mid July to early September |
| Zone 6 | Mid July to early September |
| Zone 7 | Early July to early September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (150 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, threaded between sturdier plants.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is there a native plant like Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double'?
Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Tall larkspur: the same size and the same flowering time; an accent, not a weaver, blue, not purple.
- Garden phlox 'David': the same flowering time; a drift, not a weaver, 16 in shorter.
- Burnet 'Tanna': the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; belongs at the front, not at the back, 3½ ft shorter.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double'?
Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' is over by early September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Bugbane 'Brunette': from early September to early October, 5 ft tall (a recorded partner).
- Korean feather reed grass: from late August to mid October, 4 ft tall.
- White snakeroot: from late August to mid October, 3½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' look like in winter?
Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Thalictrum
- Columbine meadow rue Thalictrum aquilegiifolium
- Lavender mist meadow rue Thalictrum rochebruneanum
- Meadow rue 'Black Stockings' Thalictrum 'Black Stockings'
- Rue anemone Thalictrum thalictroides
- Yellow meadow rue Thalictrum flavum subsp. glaucum
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back, or further forward: it is airy enough to see through
- Flowers
- Mid July to early September; airy sprays; purple, lavender
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; blue-green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 7
- Light
- Part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.