Rue's silvery gray leaves are very ornamental in the garden. Not too fussy about its growing conditions, Rue reaches about two feet when in bloom with its little yellow star-crossed flowers.
Throughout history, Rue has been used for everything from flavoring cheese to driving out evil spirits. Pungent bitter leaves used sparingly in stews, salads, sandwiches and vegetable juice. Two chewed will quickly relieve nervous headache. In early times judges relied on fresh sprigs of rue to repel fleas brought into court by prisoners. Shakespeare called Rue the ' herb of grace' and a short time later it became associated with repentance, (rue the day) as sprigs of rue were used to sprinkle holy water in early Christian rituals.
Today, there is early research which indicates that rutin, a photochemical found in rue, may help to inhibit tumor formation on the skin and yet skin allergies due to brushing against Rue in the garden on sunny days are very common. Why sunny days? Rue is classified as a photosensitizer which means the sun is necessary for the skin to be bothered.
