Tansy – Attraction and repellent?
Spring is coming!! This is tansy that grows as a perennial in my yard. (perennial meaning that it will come back every spring season.) The foliage of this plant is very much like a fern and the flowers are yellow, round and small clusters like the picture above. There is good reason why this plant is also called golden buttons. The odor tansy gives off is a bit pungent but it has specific purpose in the garden. Tansy is known to repel the “bad” bugs AND attract the beneficial bugs to your garden or yard.
Some of the beneficial bugs this lovely plant will attract are lady bugs, spined soldier bugs, spiders, hover-flies, praying mantis, lacewings and predatory wasps.
Some of the “bad” bugs Tansy is known to repel include house flies, fleas, ticks, ants, mice, Colorado potato beetles, aphids, and my nemesis, Squash bugs! They swarm my tomato plants every year regardless of where I change the planting location. And while studies could dispute that tansy will repel them scary looking squash bugs, I’m gonna try it planting my tomato plants next to that established tansy as my own experiment!
Happy Washing!
~Regina
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This was some important dialog that was had on twitter about this blog post:
@girlwithasword: @drflower Beware…tansy is VERY invasive…..I know for a fact! 🙂
@drflower: hey @girlwithasword I’ll keep that in mind 🙂 growth zone 3-9 I’m zone 8 – I think the heat keeps it at bay but good idea to dead head it.
@girlwithasword’s location is central Iowa – Tansy is known as a noxious weed in Minnisota and Mass. as it spread by reseed and rhisomes much like bamboo.
If you are concerned about tansy spreading, best treat it like a mint and plant it in a pot!
Thanks for your time!
~Regina