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Rue Seeds

Note: Germination instructions are not on seed packets, follow the instructions below for starting seed.

Start inside in trays in early winter, or direct sow in early spring after the danger of frost has passed. Cover seeds lightly in warm soil. Keep soil moist until seeds germinate.

Rue Info

Highly regarded since ancient times, rue was recognized as medicinally helpful for more than 80 complaints by the time of the early Roman Empire. The first-century A.D. scholar Pliny reported that it preserved eyesight and noted that painters and engravers ate a good deal of rue. In the 16th and 17th centuries, herbals advocated it as an antidote for all sorts of poisons, from toadstools to serpent bites. Because of rue's strong, rather musty odor, it enjoyed particular prominence for warding off pestilences. In the Middle Ages the well-off carried nosegays of rue out of doors to drive away the lice of beggars, and even into the 18th century, bouquets were placed in law courts to counteract prisoners' vermin and germs. At one time in Catholic churches, brushes made of rue were used to sprinkle holy water before Mass-a practice that may explain another of the plant's common names, herb-of-grace. After settlers introduced rue into America, it became a popular folk remedy, and doctors and apothecaries specified it for many uses as an antispasmodic, an emmenagogue (an agent that brings on menstruation), and an anthelmintic (an agent to destroy intestinal worms), to name a few.
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NPV368 Rue
Ruta graveolens. Pungent leaves used in salads, juices, etc. Ornamental in the garden, hardy perennial growing 30" tall.
Package of 1,000 seeds. $9.95





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