Cool days of April bring the onset of spring ephemerals in our local woodlands. Look for tiny white stars emerging from the leaf litter and you have probably come across Rue Anemone (Anemonella thalictroides). It’s pure white flowers with protruding yellow stamens reminds us winter’s end and the coming of summer.
BOTANICAL NAME Anemonella thalictroides
COMMON NAME Rue Anemone
DESCRIPTION Native Minnesota woodland wildflower grows up to 9″ high and features white flowers with 5-10 petal-like sepals and numerous greenish-yellow stamens. Flowers appear in loose clusters above whorls of three-lobed leaves, but each flower has its own stem. A long-blooming spring flower with a delicate, dainty appearance.
FAMILY Ranunculaceae
HEIGHT 12 inches
WIDTH 12 inches
HABIT Upright
ZONES 4 to 8
EXPOSURE Part Shade
FLOWER COLOR White
BLOOM SEASON Spring
COMPANION PLANTS Asarum, Aquilegia, Dicentra
GROWING AND MAINTENANCE TIPS Plant in average to soils that are well drained. Will not tolerate wet soils. Plant will go dormant in the summer.
NOTES Typically grows in the wild on wooded slopes and ridges. Anemonella in Greek means small windflower in reference to the fact that this flower resembles a small anemone.