Plant of the week: Thalictrum

These elegant beauties have delightfully airy sprays of blossom

Few plants provide a seasonal haze of colour better than thalictrum. Their airy sprays of fluffy blossom on erect stems hang in the air like delicate pastel-coloured clouds. Generally known as meadow rue, thalictrum are herbaceous perennials and a rather surprising member of the buttercup family Ranunculaceae.

While individual flowers are small, and either petal-less, or with petal-like sepals, it’s the fluffy mass of male stamens that enchant us in tones of white, through cream to yellow, or from pale to deep purple-pink. Stems vary in length from 60cm-2.75m (2-9ft) in the tallest varieties.

The attractive foliage is variously divided into rounded leaflets, often delicate in appearance in smaller species and varieties and varying in tone from bright green to blue.

All thalictrums are hardy as they mainly come from temperate parts of the world – northern USA, Europe, including the UK, into China and Japan. They prefer damp, but well-drained soils in dappled light or shaded situations, although blue-leaved forms such as T. flavum glaucum will tolerate drier soil and sun, as long as they get moisture in spring when starting into growth. While the latter types are fairly quick to establish, others take more time to develop sufficient rootstock to create the airy displays, especially if the soil dries in summer. Ensuring soil is rich in organic matter will certainly help.

Once in flower thin-stemmed types may need staking to hold them in position. They’re quite at home in cottage garden plantings

and associate well with airyflowered ornamental grasses.