Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)

Tansy is a lovely old-fashioned garden herb (also described as a noxious invasive). With yellow button-like flowers and bright green lacey leaves, it has a strong aroma and in the past was used as a flavoring in all sorts of things from omelets to bourbon (though in large quantities it is toxic). Its a natural insect repellent and was often planted next to kitchen doors to keep ants out. Common tansy has been found to repel beetles - interplanting with common tansy reduced Colorado potato beetle populations on potato plants by 60-100 percent. The Tansy was brought to the US from Europe by early colonists. Because of its popular uses, the governor of Massachusetts listed it as a necessary plant for colonial herb gardens in the 1600s. This led to widespread cultivation of common tansy and the inevitable escape of the plants into fields and roadsides. I must have 100 photographs of this beautiful group of tansy and goldenrod by now. Skip and I pass by on our walks and the buttons glow in the sunlight.

wildflower