Type: Herbaceous perennial.
Bloom: Small white flowers borne in loose cymes over fine textured apple green foliage in April-May.
Size: 5”-12” H; spreads quickly to 1½’.
Light: Part shade-full shade; leaves will scorch in full sun.
Soil: Average, moist, well drained, acidic soil.
Fertilizer: No special needs.
Hardiness: Zones 6-10.
Care: Can be mowed if it grows where it is not wanted.
Pests and Diseases: No serious problems.
Propagation: Division of roots; seeds.
Companion plants: Woodland Phlox, Lady’s Mantle, Brunnera, Bleeding Heart, Fringed Bleeding Heart, small hostas, Tiarella; nice under azaleas and rhododendron and with spring flowering bulbs and wildflowers.
Comments: Plants are fragrant and smell like freshly mown hay when the leaves are crushed or cut. The fragrance increases when the plants are dried making them useful in sachets or potpourris. The leaves are famous as an ingredient in May wine made with white wine, woodruff, orange and pineapple.
Karen Meyers
Thanks for sharing this information. I’ve often had Maiwein (May Wine) in Germany, which is made with Sweet Woodruff, as you mentioned.
Happy gardening!
I love Sweet Woodruff! We used to have quite the patch of it at our former house! Thanks so much for the reminder! I’m going to print this page out so I remember to start a planting on our new plot of earth!
I have never had the wine and wonder if it is good tasting. Thanks for your comment.
Sweet woodruff sort of fades into the background during the summer and returns the next spring and I think that is one of its virtues. Thanks for your comment; I love knowing that others appreciate sweet woodruff as I do.
If you’re ever in Chinon in the Loire Valley in France, you should see if the restaurant at the hotel de la Treille is still using as much woodruff in its dishes as it was when I was there a couple of years ago for the regional wine fair.
I’m not enough of a gourmet to describe the difference it made to what I ate, but as a gardener it tickled my curiosity.
Your comment makes me want to go back to the Loire Valley. I, too, am curious about what sweet woodruff would do to flavor food; and what a beautiful place to find out!
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I too love sweet woodruff and have been growing it for years in zone 5, so it is worth a try for those of you who think you would like to give it a try in a colder zone. Thanks for your sharing your thoughts and information.