PlantFiles: Yunnan Meadow Rue, Chinese Meadow Rue
Thalictrum delavayi

One of my favorite plants for sure. Grows quite tall (over 5 feet) and looks great at the back of the border. It also has very nice ferny foliage that looks quite a bit like a maiden hair fern and in late summer it has huge airy panicles of purple flowers (which are actualy purple sepals with clusters of yellow stamens). A great plant for the part sun/shade garden!! Needs good soil and waterings.

I collect and hybridize Thalictrums, so I know all the garden varieties quite well. This is my favorite in the mid-height range of the genus. They are a bit more moody than the T. rochebrunianum, but not terribly difficult. They are less bug-prone than some Thalictrums. They like some sun, but do best with shade from intense sun. I give them a bit more acidic conditions than other species. They are very similar to the T. rochebrunianum, except they are shorter (about one meter) and the foliage is finer and more fern-like. One important note--like the 'Hewitt's Double' they are very late to come out of the ground in Spring, and the shoots are very small, fine and ghostly. Mark the location carefully so you don't ruin them. In my experience, individual plants are short lived, but they reseed easily, so make sure that you let some seeds ripen. Also, they have thin stems that might need staking. I give them a bit of bark mulch to protect them, fertilizer and moderate water. You want some of these. Trust me.

This tall herbaceous perennial needs a place near the back of the flower bed that is exposed to partial shade. A moist, well-drained soil is preferred. The lavender flowers appear in late summer and the colorful sepals remain on the plant longer than those of other species. Where winters are severe, provide winter protection.

This is the third year for my plants, and I even uprooted them this spring to move them to a new spot. They never missed a beat, and are putting on a great deal of blooms this year.