Thalictrum delavayi Album - Meadow-rue

Thalictrum delavayi 'Album' is a wonderful perennial with white and airy flowering, which is very popular in shaded areas of the garden and in damp soil. Its success is well deserved, both because of its bluish columbine foliage and its summer flowering of rare lightness. It is a variety of beautiful stature, full of charm and poetry, but also a hardy and sturdy perennial plant, easy to grow in humus-rich soil, in light shade or even in shade.

Thalictrum delavayi, sometimes called Chinese meadow-rue, is a rhizomatous perennial plant native to the Himalayan region of Asia, from eastern Tibet to western China, belonging to the family Ranunculaceae. It can be found in the wild at high altitudes, in forests, shrublands, and grassy slopes. This 'Album' variety is a beautiful white-flowered form of the species. It is a herbaceous perennial with an upright and erect habit, forming a bushy clump, from which stems rise, reaching a height of about 1.50 m (5ft) (on average), with a width of 50 to 60 cm (20 to 24in). Its deciduous foliage, glaucous green above and bluish below, finely cut and very light, resembling that of a columbine, consists of leaves 15 to 35 cm (6 to 14in) long, pinnate or ternate, with entire or trilobed leaflets. In July-August, large loose pyramidal panicles appear, terminal and axillary, well-branched, formed by small star-shaped flowers, inclined, with four pure white sepals, enhanced by prominent stamens, yellow touched with green. Not liking the competition of nearby roots, a planting distance of 40 cm (16in) around its base should be respected. Meadow-rues, which are rather slow to establish, will become more and more beautiful over time.

Meadow-rue or Thalictrum delavayi 'Album' provides the same ornamental function as Panicled Baby's Breath, but unlike them, it prefers damp and shaded areas of the garden. With its development, its delicate and elegant bluish columbine foliage, as well as its airy appearance, it will be perfect for adding height and lightness to flower beds. Despite its size, its translucent silhouette allows it to be placed at the front of flower beds to create a beautiful effect. It will be very effective in contrast with less airy perennials (Rodgersia, Hosta), as well as on the edge of shrub beds. It will naturally find its place alongside large ferns, Hydrangeas, shrub or climbing Roses, Fuchsias, Japanese Anemones, Aconites, Astilbes, Campanulas, Buckthorn, Snowberries, Hellebores, Foxgloves, Grasses, Perennial Geraniums, Elderberry, Sacred Bamboo, etc.