Rue Anemone

Thalictrum thalictroides

Rue anemone is one of the most delicate-looking native wildflowers in the spring woodland -- tiny white to pale pink cup-shaped flowers on thread-thin stems, trembling at any air movement, opening in March and April alongside trout lily and spring beauty. The flowers last for weeks, persisting longer than most spring ephemerals, and the three-lobed leaflets have a blue-green color that remains attractive even after blooming ends. The plant goes dormant by midsummer. It's small enough to tuck into the spaces between large woodland plants, naturalizing slowly by seed and tuber offsets to form loose colonies over years. The tubers can be divided in late summer for spreading to new locations. A quiet, precious plant for gardeners who pay attention to the smallest details of their woodland floor.