Now on to rue. I took a look in Arthur O. Tucker and Thomas DeBaggio's book The Encyclopedia of Herbs and they say in part. "In the spring, after the first year of growth, prune the stems of rue 6 to 8 inches above the ground. Follow this procedure each spring and a well-shaped, handsome plant will result. Beware, though: rue can inhibit the growth of nearby plants, and Italian researchers have even isolated potential allelochemicals that could be used as pre-emergent herbicides." They go on to say: "Rue is a magnet for black swallowtail butterflies, which lay their eggs on the plant's leaves; these hatch a colorful yellow, chartreuse and black caterpillar that may defoliate the plant if the gardener is unaware. Garden rue has an unusual horticultural use as breeding area for the tiny parasitic wasp Encarsia formosa, which serves as a natural control of whiteflies in the greenhouse.
OK, enough about rue! I'll keep looking about rue's effect on other plants. Hope you are staying warm wherever you may be. Talk to you later.
From China Bayles' Book of Days, here is today's quote:
A Gard'ner's work is never at an end. It begins with the year, and continues to the next.
--John Evelyn, 1620-1706
