I bought Woodruff for the first time this week, for my shade garden. Anyone else have it in their gardens? Could you share a picture of it? I googled the images, but still curious about this cute little plant. Says it spreads a bit. Curious about what it will do.

Which Woodruff do you have?
I have grown it in the past----the white flowered one.
This year I was trying for seedlings of Blue Woodruff,
but not sure of their status now? (Asperula orientalis)
I think the blue is an annual here, but the white one was perennial.

It's a Sweet Woodruff and the tag shows white flowers. Here's a pic of it in the new flowerbed beside a small hosta.

They are a good ground cover for shade,
and I do not recall that it spreads too much.
Should be a nice addition to your garden.

I grow it in a garden on the shady side of my house. It's a well behaved ground cover that has spread at a moderate rate for me. Here is a photo of it in bloom with a hosta just emerging. I planted this in 2013 from a single 4" pot and it covers an area of a couple square feet now.

I just realized, I don't have any Sweet Woodruff in my garden right now. Have to look for it again.
I grew up with the wonderful scent of this plant, called Waldmeister in German. Waldmeister flavored Soda, Ice Cream and definitely Jello come to mind. adults would prepare around May a Waldmeisterbowle, which is a Punch infused with Sweet Woodruff.
https://spoonfulsofgermany.com...
I would just have it in my garden and crush the leaves and smell them. I love the stuff!!

Thanks for your responses. All in all, I think this might have turned out to be a good five bucks spent! It's looking nice where I placed it and I think I saw some flower heads starting yesterday.

Ursula - Thanks for the link! I think I will channel my inner German and try one of those recipes. I didn't know it was edible, but I too love the smell of it.

Do enjoy!

I don't think Sweet Woodruff is edible.
It is only used as a flavoring in some alcoholic drinks.
It is supposed to smell somewhat like vanilla when it is dried, and added to potpourri .

Caroline - I followed the link Ursula posted to some recipes to flavor ice cream, jello, and beverages. It sounds like only a very small amount is used, much like using lavender for flavoring rather than tossing it in a salad!

If I may - it doesn't smell anywhere near like Vanilla, perhaps a super intensified scent of grass clippings comes a bit closer. It really has its own unique scent.
And yes, it certainly is not being eaten as is, I would read on how to use it, carefully for sure.

I'm going to have to break a leaf and smell it. I know we'll never use it this way; bought it for it's look in the shade garden. We never use the mint either. But that's okay.

Connie, I have sweet Woodruff in my wooded area (5 acres). This area is never disturbed, so it is wild, not something I have planted.
I read once that in the old days, women would pick & dry Sweet Woodruff and sprinkle it in their shoes, conveying a sweet smell as they walked. I guess it was in the days before odor eaters were invented

@conniepr27 I just saw this thread. I moved Sweet Woodruff from my old house to the new house in 2011. I just brought along a small start, probably about 4" in diameter. This picture was taken in the Spring of 2015. It does spread, but I have it in my "Woodland Garden" next to the timber so I was hoping it would spread. At the old house I planted about 1/2 dozen of them and they filled in an area I needed a good groundcover so I was very pleased.
This is the new garden in 2015:


This was the old garden in 2009-the Sweet Woodruff is around the base of the Redbud tree to the right of the bench:


Although it spreads nicely, I have not found it invasive or that it chokes out other plants.

Ginny, that looks like really nice ground cover. Thanks for sharing the pics!

Kathy, thanks for the tip. I'm going to have to try that!