Tansy - Tanacetum vulgare
400 Seeds
Sow March - April.
Hardy perennial.
Height 90cm (3ft), spread 30-60cm (1-2ft) and more.
Can be grown in a site of average, moist, garden soil and full sun, though will tolerate partial shade. Plant in permanent position in July.
Can be propegated by root division in second year.
The stem is ridged, round and green tinged with red. The aromatic leaves are deeply indented, toothed and dark green. The mustard-yellow flowers are dense clusters, which appear from late summer to autumn.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Don't ingest Tansy at all if pregnant and don't grow it if you are near any type of farm with grazing animals. Although this is a pretty plant to look at, there are a lot of downsides to growing Tansy, so unless growing a very specialized garden in which Tansy is an important element, most of us should really find other alternatives in the average home garden setting.
Tansy
Also known as Bachelor's Buttons, Bitter Buttons, Goldern Buttons, Stinking Willy, Hind Heel and Parsley Fern.
From the family Asteraceae.
It is a native to Europe and Asia and naturalized elsewhere, expecially in North America. The name derives from the Greek anthanatos, meaning immortality. In some ancient cultures, its strong antiseptic properties were used to preserve the dead and used in the preparation of the embalming sheets and rubbed on corpses to save them from earthworms or corspe worm and according to classical legend, a drink made from Tansy was given to the beautiful young man Ganymede to make him immortal. It was also popularly used as an insecticide and disinfectant and, at Easter, was made into 'Tansy', a rich custard pudding.