Rue anemone
Thalictrum thalictroides · Ranunculaceae
A tiny woodland wildflower with delicate white or pale pink flowers on thread-like stems for a month or more in spring, above leaves like a maidenhair fern. It dies down in summer.
- Size
- 6 in tall, 8 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Part shade to shade
- Flowers
- Mid April to mid May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around rue anemone
The planner designed this bed around rue anemone when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why rue anemone stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Rue anemone × 10, white
- 2 Moor grass 'Greenlee' × 10, tan
- 3 Turtlehead 'Hot Lips' × 5, pink
- 4 Japanese meadowsweet × 3, pink
- 5 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Hardy cyclamen × 5, pink
- 7 Yellow trout lily × 5, yellow
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are spires, plumes and bells. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only white. White sits between stronger colours and calms them.
Why here
- Near the front. At 6 in it stands ahead of inkberry 'Gem Box' (2½ ft) without hiding it.
- 10 plants in 2 groups (7 and 3). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From mid April to mid May.
- Fills a gap. For one of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
- Leaves gone by midsummer. They die back and leave bare ground. A perennial that comes up late stands beside it, and grows over the gap.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 37% of the planted ground. The back corners are held by turtlehead 'Hot Lips' and Japanese meadowsweet, the tallest plants on the plan. Pink is the colour seen most, on 3 of the 6 kinds grown for their flowers.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 3 Good, 1 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 rue anemone goes in a border
At 6 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
It flowers for longer than most spring ephemerals. Small and slow, so plant it at the edge of a path with liverleaf and other miniatures.
- Spring detail in a woodland garden
- Among tree roots
- With other small spring wildflowers
What to plant with rue anemone
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Christmas fern: its dark green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (20 in) to stand behind it.
- Wild ginger: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; bold leaves against its fine ones.
- Liverleaf: in flower together for three weeks, from mid April.
Questions about rue anemone
Does rue anemone need sun or shade?
Rue anemone grows in part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning) and shade (less than 2 hours of direct sun, or bright dappled light). It is one of the few that also put up with deep shade.
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does rue anemone grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 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 rue anemone flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid April to mid May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Mid April to late May |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Mid April to mid May |
| Zone 6 | Early April to early May |
| Zone 7 | Late March to early May |
| Zone 8 | Late March to late April |
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 rue anemone be planted?
6 in (15 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 8 in (20 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 6 in (15 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many rue anemone plants do I need?
At 6 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 48 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 21 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 153 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used 10 in two groups.
Is rue anemone poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat rue anemone?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after rue anemone?
Rue anemone is over by mid May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Sweet woodruff: from early May to early June, 8 in tall.
- Lady's mantle: from late May to early July, 18 in tall.
- Columbine: from early May to mid June, 24 in tall.
What does rue anemone look like in winter?
Rue anemone has long gone by winter: it dies down in summer, soon after flowering, and comes back in spring.
Is rue anemone good for bees and butterflies?
Rue anemone is visited by bees and moths.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
More Thalictrum
- Chinese meadow rue 'Hewitt's Double' Thalictrum delavayi 'Hewitt's Double'
- Columbine meadow rue Thalictrum aquilegiifolium
- Lavender mist meadow rue Thalictrum rochebruneanum
- Meadow rue 'Black Stockings' Thalictrum 'Black Stockings'
- Yellow meadow rue Thalictrum flavum subsp. glaucum
In these guides
- Plants for dry shade
- Plants for deep shade
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Native plants for shade
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for bees
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Plants for a white garden
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 6 in (15 cm) tall, 8 in (20 cm) wide
- Plant
- 6 in (15 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid April to mid May; open bowls; white, pink
- Leaves
- Fine texture, summer-dormant; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Part shade, shade
- Soil
- Rich, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- Comes from
- Eastern and Central North America
- Attracts
- Bees, moths
- Stands up to
- Drought, deep shade
Checked against NC State Extension. 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.