Cathy I have to replace mine every year it dies back and I never get any seeds the caterpillars eat even the flowers I planteds some seeds but the plants are so cheap at houston gardens they 1.25 and nice sizes so im just ganna buy mine .Mine dont like the full sun its just to hot here for them so they get morning sun only also if you want to keep cats out of your flower beds rue works great cats hate the stuff.

I have had the same plants for a few years now. I cut 'em back because they just get so huge and bushy and start to overtake the area I've got them planted in. In fact, I just cut 'em back last weekend. :) I love the smell of the leaves...interestingly, it is not very easy to find the plants sold around where I live and I am always astounded when I find a nursery carrying a pot or two. Mine get full sun for part of the day but then go into the shade in late afternoon. Someone mentioned that these guys are only 'good' for a couple of years then die off. I've yet to see this happen with mine.

All mine came back this year, they're all growing vigorously, and I saw some buds on the oldest plant, so I should be seeing the flowers and the seeds soon. Rue has been very unpredictable for me, Cathy, so I can't really predict what will happen. They seem to do better down here in part sun/part shade - up your way they may need more sun. None have been long lived for me, 3 years being about their average lifespan, but they're very easy to root, so I'll probably take cuttings this summer to root in case they don't make it to next year. Maybe I'll try seeds this year, couldn't hurt!
It's a great plant, though, I wouldn't be without it!
Sherry

I have never found rue here, but I ordered seeds. I planted some and kept them inside but they died. I have more and am planting them outside this week. They said to just sow them. Does that mean ju7st spread them around? I have not had alot of luck with my seeds. I want to get them right this time.

tdr4,

Here's what I do with Rue seeds (I even have my Kindergartners plant them and they're successful!). They do take a bit longer to germinate so don't give up hope!

I start them in small containers, first of all, and NOT just throw/spread 'em around. It seems that when I've done that, they just don't germinate (been there, done that). Using a good, organic soil, I simply poke a hole about 1/4" deep, stick the seeds in, cover 'em up, and water. Keep the soil moist and in full sun. In less than 20 days the seeds germinated. Once the seedlings were about 1.5 to 2" tall, transplant them outdoors in the ground. That's it!

I will try that. I am a first grade teacher. We are on spring break this week. When I go back we are planting milkweed. This will be my third class to do this with. Milkweed always grows quickly.

Thanks, everyone, for all of your input! I went outside and see that the rue, as sad as it looks from making it through our tough (usual for here) winter, it's sprouting out little green leaves along the main stem. I kind of hate to cut it down now. I probably should go out and cut the old growth off of my butterfly bushes, though, since it's getting to be pretty nice out now (in the 60's...woo hoo!). I'm really really looking forward to seeing all of the butterflies again this year and hopefully picking up a few new species, like the Giant Swallowtail and the Pipevine Swallowtail...just two of the many that I'm lusting for! LOL Thanks again!
Cathy

Rue stems can get very woody the older the are, so trimming back to where new growth starts is a good idea. Works on mine anyway. It's kind of like lavendar. Parts of the plant gets very woody and dies back, or fails to produce new growth. I am like MissSherry, I have to replace mine every two or three years. I was not very successful growing mine from seed. They sprouted and grew fine, but most died when I transplanted them to the garden. They were probably too young, and I should have transplanted them in pots. I gave up on that and just buy them at the nursery here in OKC. There are several that carry it here, but they are private nurseries and not the big box stores. I've never found any there.

I know a lot of people plant them because they make good small hedges, and the plants is very attractive. Some people are allergic to the oils in the plant, which can cause a rash. I've never had that problem, thank goodness. I like the Rue because the Giant Swallowtails use it as well as the BSTs.

BTW - my little lemon tree made it thru our icy winter here (Ichang) and is putting on lots of new growth. I am hoping the GSTs will find it as soon as it's large enough. It is hardy to 0 degrees. So those of you who don't grow citrus because you are in a zone where most cannot survive the winter, you might want to try these hardier lemons.

Susan

Hi Susan!
I decided to cut my rue back. I saw that it was getting new growth along the stem, but I thought the plants would probably turn out looking a lot nicer if they'd be trimmed.

I'm glad that you mentioned that lavender should be trimmed back to. I remember from before that you said how much the butterflies love it, so I wanted to plant some here. I started some last year but got it going so late that I decided to keep it inside over winter. It grows very slowly! Is it usual for the plant to kind of fall over? Mine aren't a nice erect plant but want to flop over on their sides.

I'm surprised that you could find rue at a local place. I can't find any around here, so I bought seeds from J.L. Hudson. I think I planted 200 seeds last year and I bet every one of them germinated! I gave mostly all of them away to people and kept 20 some plants; 14 are outside and at least half a dozen inside. I decided that I want to plant more, so I bought more seeds and am waiting on them to germinate. It might be awhile yet since I just planted them a little more than a week ago. I LOVE the looks of the plants and also their smell. I have no problem with them making a rash. What I do have a slight problem with is tropical milkweed. Whenever I am handling the plants, my hands and arms get very itchy, so I have to wash mine off for more than the reason of the danger of getting it in my eyes.

The other things that I want to plant for the BST this year are fennel, dill, and parsley. I have two plants of parsley that came back from last year. I had saved some parsley seed from last year's plants, but I think I ended up giving it all away to people and have to go buy some. Ha, I thought that was kind of funny.

That's great that your lemon tree did fine. I don't know if it would make it up here though. We do get temps below zero, so it probably wouldn't. It's great that some people can get the hardier lemons, though, who wouldn't have luck with others but who live where it stays above zero.

Oh, I have another questin, either for you or someone else who knows. Could I take those cuttings (I just cut them off today) and put them in water and they would root? I have a friend in IA who is doing a wildlife exhibition at a fair in August and wants to include butterflies. I thought it would be nice if I could give him some rooted rue cuttings to start for the BST and GST. Last year I got him into Monarchs, so I thought it would be nice to get him interested in even more this year. :)
Cathy

Rue roots very easy and very quickly. One year I put some cuttings in water for the BSTs and they had roots everywhere within a short short time. One year I even left a cutting in a jug of water outside and it survived the winter. LOL!

You're lucky to get such good germination from Lavendar seeds. I've heard they are difficult to grow from seed. You might remember me posting some time ago, that I had a terrible time finding a lavendar that would work in my garden. Finally, I bought lavendula v. intermedia 'Provence" and it worked the best for me. In one summer it grew from a small plant to about 3' x 3'. It gets pretty large. I love the smell, too. When I'm out gardening, I'll just run my hand thru the foliage and I have my perfume for the day! The butts love it, too! It is one of my most popular nectaring plants.

How great you are providing your friend with Rue cuttings. Won't take them long to root so you can pot them up for him.

Last summer, the fennel was a very popular host for the BSTs. The Zizia worked well, too. I will have Zizia seeds soon, as they umbels are beginning to show at the tops of the plants, and looks like I'm going to have several. Yea!

The advantages of living in the city is there is more likelihood of finding some otherwise hard-to-find plants, like Rue. But, I get fewer butterflies than you, I bet, too.

Keep up the great work, Cathy.

Susan

Susan, I'm finding out too that rue roots very easily. All I had to do was stick some cuttings in some potting soil and keep it moist and it has new growth already. Ha, that's funny about your cutting surviving the winter in a jug of water! LOL That has to prove that it must be a touch plant!

I guess I must be lucky with getting the lavender to germinate. I had no trouble at all. What I wasn't expecting is how slowly it grows and like I said, the plants that I'll be planting out in the garden this year were actually started last year. I thought that I'd try them and see if the butterflies like them at all. So far it seems like whatever herbs I've had here only attracted the bumblebees and/or honeybees but not the butterflies. So I'm curious to see if the lavender will attract them. My daughter was upset when she heard that I was planting lavender and said she can't stand the smell of it. I'll have to wait and sit if I can or not. I know that those lavender/vanilla scents that are put into some handsoaps, fabric softeners, etc. about drive me up the wall. I don't know if it's the combination of the two or what, but I really can't stand the smell. I don't know if its because of my asthma or what. Of course, I suppose that laying in a bed sheet with the smell is different than smelling it outside.

Yep, I remember of you mentioning that you were having trouble finding a type of lavender that worked well for you. I'm so glad that you finally found ont that does great. I don't know if the one I have is the same as yours. I have no idea how many different kinds of lavender there are. The one I have came off of a seed rack that I was browsing through at the grocery store last spring. I even have the pack yet. It's Burpee True Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia) if that means anything. Your Provence really did grow fast! At the rate my lavender is growing, I might get to see it that size by the the year 2020. Ha.

Oh yeah, your mentioning that you run your hands through the foliage has me wondering if the flowers will have the same smell as the foliage. If that would be the case, I know that I won't mind the flower smell because I've been smelling the foliage and I think that it has a pleasant fragrance. I remember you saying how popular your lavender is with the butterflies and that's why I want to have it in my garden.

On a side note, my Aristolochia macrophylla is doing fine, and so are the Pussytoes. They didn't grow much last year due to our drought. I think if I wouldn't have kept them watered, I probably would have lost them, and I didn't want that to happen. I'm hoping for PVS someday, but hopefully when they do show up, I'll have enough to feed them. I kind of doubt if that will be this year but maybe the vines will really take off this year. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I got some seeds from someone to start some pipevine too, but I don't know exactly what kind it is so don't know if it will make it through the winter here. If it comes up, I'll plant it with the others and hope that they don't fight. :) I also wanted to get more Pussytoes started, so I bought some seeds from Prairie Moon Nursery. They didn't germinate yet either, but I just planted those a couple of weeks ago. I plan on having a whole bed (about 4' x 30') of just Pussytoes. I had a couple of American Ladies here last year for the first time and I'm so excited that maybe they'll be back this year (well, not those exact one...lol) and lay some eggs on the plants. They really enjoyed nectaring on the Purple Coneflowers, as did probably all of the other butterflies that I had here. Those plants are so popular that I dug pieces out from the original plants and started 14 new plants. I also planted some seeds from the plants and will probably have at least 20 new plants besides those others. So I guess having 4 dozen purple coneflower plants here speaks for their ability to attract the butterflies. :)

Yes, I know that my friend will really appreciate the rue cuttings. I got him and some of my other birding friends into butterflying last year and they just love it! This particular guy is having a display at a fair in August again and I also sent him tons of milkweed seeds thinking that maybe he'd want to pass them out. He already has lots for himself that I had given him last year. He raised Monarchs and Black Swallowtails and plans on planting lots of butterfly plants out this year. He's really into nature related things and I thought of all of my birding friends, he would be the one who would most appreciate the cuttings and seeds I would be sending him. I guess you probably saw the movie Paying It Forward. :)

My fennel hasn't sprouted yet, but I hope that I'll have good luck with it. I just love the smell of that! I only had two plants here last year (none of the rest made it through the dry weather). I'm not sure if it's considered an annual or a perennial here, but neither of them have come back from the winter. I have also planted carrots this year and although I might get BST on them, I think that I should have plenty of rue, dill, parsley, and and fennel that we might actually get to eat the carrots. Ha.

Thanks for everything, Susan, and you keep up the good work too. If it wouldn't be for you and others here, I wouldn't be as far along as I am. Someday when things really get going here, I'll have to post a few pictures.

Cathy

Seeing this post reminds me that I need to get more rue for my yard. I've had numerous plants but only a handful have lasted two years and still counting. I neglect to cut them back and often forget to water them. I have collected seeds but again, neglect to plant them.

The vendor at the flea market where I purchase them each in 3 inch pots each year tells me he starts cuttings in potting soil and that they root easily...I just haven't bothered to try. I find it easier to buy 'em already rooted :o) Must make it a point to hit the fleamarket one of these weekends real soon!

~ Cat

Cathy,
If you want some Fennel seeds, let me know. :) I have extra...
CalSherry aka tdogmom

drop me a line at monarchfriend@yahoo.com

Cat, Hurry before the rue is all bought up! lol I think you're lucky that you can find it. If you'd live around here, you wouldn't be able to find it anywhere. I had to order mine online. I don't have the money to buy plants and start everything from seed. I actually think it's fun to start everything myself. DH was just asking me today, "Don't you EVER get tired of planting things?!" Um, nope, I don't. :) Different strokes for different folks! lol

Cater...

Rue seems to be one of the main herbs out here. The Mexican folks say you should plant rue, rosemary and something else...which I cannot remember...in your yard for good luck.

So rue can usually be found in abundance at the flea markets and local nurseries :o)

I enjoy starting from seed as well but sometimes it's just easier and so much faster to purchase a plant when you can get them for about $1.50 in 3 to 4 inch pots and sometimes the gallon pots sell for $2.50 to $3.00. Can't beat that.

More so when the Black Swallowtails are on the wing and I'm scrambling around looking for plants they can lay eggs on :o)

~ Cat

Just updated my thread from last summer about the GST eggs on Rue plants that I provided....they found them quickly.

Some of my Rue acted like an evergreen this past winter...it is up and running...now I want to add more!

Here is a link that might be useful: Spotted my first GST.....

Rue pretty much stays evergreen here, too. Maybe that's why we have to replace it more often. It may prefer a total winter dormancy at colder temps than we get.

It's funny about Rosemary. There are hardy rosemary's that will grow here, but they always sell that stupid Tuscan Blue at the nurseries here, and it is very borderline in Oklahoma. It may make it thru a mild winter, but not a harsh one like we get fairly often. I had one that grew for two years, and then we had a colder winter and it bit the dust. I may have to mail order one of the hardier ones.

Congrats on your GST, Webkat! I love them. They are so graceful in the air. The GSTs and the TSTs are both graceful in flight IMHO. It's a pleasure to just sit and watch them.

Today it is windy and in the 50s! But I did see a little red-banded hairstreak in the garden when I water. Had to water because all the rain we were "supposed" to get, we didn't!

Susan