Ferny Plant with Herby Smell

[pinksand]

My MIL gave me this plant last fall. It came from her mother's garden and is very special to her, but I have no idea what it is and it's about quadrupled in size since I put it in the ground... which scares me a bit. The leaves are a bit fern like and smell like an herb... maybe peppery?

[applestar]

Looks like tansy. If so, has yellow button like flowers in fall..ish. Good for moth repellent sachet.

[GardeningCook]

Yes, does look like Tansy. Used to be used for medicinal purposes & not poisonous per se, but don't eat it anyway. Usual modern uses have been for pest control.

[pinksand]

That looks about right! It didn't bloom last year but it had been transplanted from her garden so it could have just been in shock. I'll keep an eye out for the blooms this fall. Thank you both!

[pinksand]

After reading a bit about the plant it sounds like tansy is an exotic invasive that I probably don't want spreading through my garden... I wonder if I can remove it without hurting my MIL's feelings. It might just have to mysteriously disappear from my garden.

[applestar]

Well you could, but I only have two tansy clumps in my entire garden, exactly where I planted them. ...probably because I ruthlessly yank out any outliers out of bounds AND cut them nearly to the ground in the fall. I also strip the lower leaves as well because they are prone to powdery mildew.

The yanked out ones are used as "strewing herbs" on the patio as well as stuffed under the outside doormat along with mint and lemon balm, Garlic chives, etc.

...I also use them as mulch on the paths around the veg garden.

[GardeningCook]

After reading a bit about the plant it sounds like tansy is an exotic invasive that I probably don't want spreading through my garden... I wonder if I can remove it without hurting my MIL's feelings. It might just have to mysteriously disappear from my garden.

I don't think you need to go all postal over removing it. It's really not all that invasive - in fact, frequently less than many native invasives.

I used to do herbal landscaping, & Tansy was a frequent must for "medicinal" gardens, since it was used so frequently in both European & Native American medicines. Was also used as a pest repellant & is still used today by some beekeepers in their smokers. It's an interesting plant with an interesting history that is worth keeping around even if one must keep an eye on it.

[pinksand]

Alright, fine... you've both convinced me to keep it I'll just have to move it because I thought it was full grown at 1/4 this size and put it in a spot that's all wrong. I should have had it identified when she gave it to me in the first place, oh well!

[imafan26]

If it is tansy keep it away from pets and kids. Tansy is toxic to some animals and could be toxic if not used properly. I does have some medicinal uses and attracts beneficial insects. It apparently has some culinary uses as well, but you do need to know what you are doing.

https://landscaping.about.com/od/herbpla ... plants.htm

[applestar]

Yep. When I had my babies, I hunted down all the severely toxic plants and eliminated them from kids accessible areas of the garden. (Tansy wasn't one of them though, in the sense that they ARE growing inside the fenced gardens and not accessible when the kids were little, but I still used it for the insect repellant properties.)

One of the things I did with my kids when they were old enough to roam the garden on their own was "leaf and flower and berry hunt" -- walk the garden together and point out the ones that they were NOT TO TOUCH (thorns, contact dermatitis, possible skin absorption) and NOT TO EAT (including putting hand/fingers in mouth after touching). Then we would gather the ones that we COULD touch and bring them back to the patio to line up and try to ID.

After they were reasonably proficient, I let them play with foxglove flowers in spring/early summer which are so perfect for fairy wardrobe, and fully ripe poke berries in the fall -- plants were considered no-touch until then and only berries were handled. They knew not to eat but to squish with a rock and "paint" and "dye" on papers with the juices.

They were also taught to frequently wash hands at the outside faucet and to make a beeline for the bathroom to thoroughly wash hands after coming inside.

I was shocked to realize some of the kids that came to play didn't know even the commonest dangerous plants like poison ivy, and those are EVERYWHERE since birds like to eat the berries.

[rainbowgardener]

It's a balance - I'm sure your children grew up loving the garden and eating from it and doing crafts. My SIL just brought a place with a couple acres of woods, but she and her daughter are afraid to go in to them, because they are convinced it is so dangerous with snakes and poison ivy and scary spiders and who knows what all. You don't want to just teach your kids about everything that is dangerous.

[Mr_bobo_]

I agree with Tansy - Tanacetum vulgare.
It will have yellow flowers in late summer, early fall.