Forget 90% of everything you've heard about syrian rue needing dry soil.
When they are an inch tall if you dont keep them moist they just roll over and die, water is absolutely essential in the early life of rue.
When they get older the roots go deep and wide so they can steal water from more distant sources, but even 4 year old bushes grow better in moister areas. I have a blatantly excessive 30 foot row of them
and the ones away from moist soil grow small even with routine hand watering and I find roots going 10' away to get water from vegetable plots, etc. whereas the plants growing nearest to my tomatoes and getting hit by the sprinkler grow huge. Just dont let sprinklers hit them when the seed pods are drying or they'll go moldy.
They probably will survive freezing winters better with drier soil in the winter.
They will, by far, have more chance of surviving when grown in the ground rather than pots. In the spring just make a ring of stones, scratch up the soil and mix in some rue seeds, then water daily until fall.