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Impossible Gardening: Hot, Dry, Clay Soil, Part Shade-Part 2

© Diana Pederson

Last week I discussed Coneflowers and shasta daisies. This week, let's move on to Russian Sage and Rue which are also hardy plants in USDA Zone 5. As with all the plants in this series, these grow well in dry, clay soil, with part-sun. They also tolerate drought rather well.

Perovskia atriplicifolia

I was introduced to Russian Sage when it was the 1995 Perennial Plant of the Year. The name is misleading because this plant comes from the rocky areas of Pakistan. It was named for a Russian General. Russian Sage is a member of the mint family which should clue you in to its ease of culture and hardiness!

The plant grows about 4-6 feet tall. It has whitish-gray, fine leaves. Some think the follows look like those of lavender. Like mint plants, Russian Sage is strongly scented with a camphor-like scent. In the north, it begins blooming late in July and lasts until frost giving a bluish haze to the border. This picture shows a plant of sage, flopped over after a summer shower. This year I intend to surround it with a grow-through plant ring system to help it remain upright throughout the season. .

It can be propagated from seeds or you can simply purchase small plants at your local nursery. They will grow fast and flower the same season. You may want to try taking cuttings too, early enough in the summer to allow ample time for rooting and getting planted out before frost returns.

Ruta graveolens

Rue is native to the Mediterranean region. It grows in ditches, on hillsides, next to old walls, and other wastelands. Rue was used as food flavoring and as medicine during the New Testament period. Today, we know it can be fatal! The Greeks and Romans believed it protected them against diseases. They spread it on floors of public buildings and walked outside carrying boquets of it in their hand to protect them from disease.

North Americans will find the cultivar, Ruta graveolens "Blue Mound" to be an attractive, bluish-green plant with bright yellow flowers from June to August. I've had a single plant growing in a narrow strip of land between a brick townehouse and an asphalt driveway where it gets covered with road salt every winter for many years. It was even uprooted last winter and returned strong after being replanted in the spring. I cut it to the ground every fall and it grows faithfully every spring. By deadheading it, I can keep it flowering through August. As with any of the plants in these perennial borders, it only receives fertilizer if I remember--no more than once a month.