Rue

[northepaul]

Hi there,
I am, as you may have guessed rather new to growing things. I am interested in growing herbs, particularly unusual or old fashioned herbs. I have come across Rue seeds and have also been told its very good as a companion with strawberries. I have done some research online but not found out anything much. Can anyone give me any guidance about this herb please?

Also if anyone has any interesting suggestions of herbs, I would love to hear.
Thank you in advance.

[FROSTYFRECKLE]

I'm growing Rue from seed and was going to put it in a new herb bed I'm developing but that's all changed. I'll pop it in with my strawbs (I was unsure about growing strawbs again but that's changed as well) The reason I picked Rue is you can use the leaves (sparingly) in salads plus it looks pretty If you have sensitive skin Rue is best avoided. That's the limit of my knowledge - sorry.

[Eco-Chic]

If you get the sap from rue on your skin in the sunlight you may well get some very painful blisters.

[Reb Williams]

I don't know if you are interested in the history of rue and its uses, but it has a lot of significant meaning in some cultures. In Lithuania, which has a lot of pre-Christian influences still in the culture, it has special meaning - I think Wikipedia's fairly correct in this entry: Rue - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(also contains some pictures of what the blisters look like!)

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[northepaul]

Thanks for all your comments, thats very useful.
I have also heard it was used to ward off witches in medieval times....