Oh my goodness, this is an invasive noxious weed not only in our entire area, but a goodly sized patch has taken hold in my (deceased) aunt's untended garden that I've inherited! I've been doing battle with this demon weed for 2 yrs. now & have barely made a dent; it just keeps coming. So if you really want it, just wait a bit & unless your seed is bad, I'm afraid you'll have it soon enough!

Good luck! Jean

thanks!
I didn't know it was invasive. I've got enough invasive species in my garden. I'll pass on this one.

Do you mean Tanacetum vulgare? The tansy with the yellow flowers? Yes that one can get invasive, although I grew it from seed about 25 years ago at my previous house where I had a large veggie and herb garden, and it never got out of control.

I'm growing 2 species of Tanacetum I got from a trade, Tanacetum parthenemum (feverfew) and Tanacetum niveum (don't know common name. These have white flowers and are not supposed to be invasive.

Terrene, you've been most fortunate not to experience the invasiveness of Tanacetum vulgare, and you may possibly be that fortunate yet again with your T. parthenemum (also known as Chrysanthemum parthenemum) and T. niveum!

Tanacetum niveum is commonly called white or silver tansy or snow daisy & looks much like a cushion mum, with single white daisy-type flowers & yellow centers. Two of the most common cultivars are 'White Bouquet' & 'Jackpot'. As with all tansies, they self-sow freely & are considered aggressively invasive.

Ellen, forewarned is forearmed!

I grew tansy several years ago and I was told that it could be controlled by planting it in a pot and sinking the pot in the ground. I fashioned a 'pot' out of a large plastic fabric softener bottle and would you believe it busted the pot apart and escaped in one summer!!! That was the end of it...a real thug!!

Well Greenjeans, I had no idea the other white tansies were invasive too. I just planted out the seedlings, with the idea of using them as fillers in between young perennials. I will have to keep a close watch on them!

Despite its invasive nature, tansy has a history of use as a medicinal herb. It is TOXIC, though, so it has fallen away from medicinal use - it is, however, somewhat effective as an organic insecticide. It makes a good addition to the compost pile, and attracts beneficial insects as well.

That being said, I agree with organic greenjeans - forewarned is forearmed! I grow it, but then, I grow mint, too (mint repels rodents). Perhaps I'm just plumb crazy, LOL.

Wait, feverfew is invasive? I'm growing white wonder as a cutting flower. Now I'm worried.

Caryl

Drippy, I thought 'plumb crazy' was just a normal part of being a gardener! Looks like I'm in good company here, I should fit right in!

I used tansy along with a couple other herbs in insect repellent kerchief collars for my K9 friends (it's not recommended for cats)& it worked well for us with no side effects. As with people though, not all animals can tolerate certain herbs, so it's good to test on a small area before using on a larger scale!

Anyone growing one of the species of tansy shouldn't panic over what's been said about it. Just be aware of it's desire to take over the world & diligent in your refusal to allow it to do so! By that I mean never, ever, ever allow it to go to seed, be fanatical about deadheading this one.

And as northerner shared about what (I'm assuming) was T. vulgare busting out of it's sunken pot, even deadheading won't be enough! The mattes of roots this plant forms are formidable; that's what I'm doing battle with in the neglected patch of ground it's taken over here. I may even bring in some strong young'uns to help with it this year, because I think the stinker's got me beat!

Happy gardening, good luck to y'all, & as always thanks to everyone for sharing so much valuable information!

Caryltoo, we're using terms a little casually - an invasive plant is one that can take over native settings and may cause economic or environmental distress either to landscape or wildlife - Feverfew doesn't fall among those, it's an aggressive garden plant in many settings, not invasive.

A rampant self sower here, but if you take time to weed regularly you shouldn't have any trouble pulling unwanted seedlings from inappropriate places. If you are a very casual weeder, you could end up with more white flowering plants than you had intended to grow.

morz8, Only Tanacetum vulgare is listed as a Class C noxious weed in WA state, so in stating that feverfew isn't 'invasive' you are technically correct.

However, I have personally seen feverfew sprouting from self-sown seed up to a half acre away from the originally planted parent plant. This in the very well tended gardens of a diligent weeder, & not to mention the many seedlings which sprouted in between.

So though your comment about us using terms too casually is also technically correct, I'd have to stand on my comments as common-sense seen it with my own eyes grow the stuff myself knowledge!

Interesting comments regarding feverfew. I got 3 of the double blossomed white fever few for my white garden about 3 years ago. All the plants are dead now. So I assumed they were short lived perennials. In those 3 years, I have maybe gotten half a dozen volunteer seedlings. Granted this garden is in front of my house and I am a super duper diligent deheader in that garden.

I received seeds in a newbie seed pack for fever few but have only had 1 sprout. Now I'm nervous about planting that single plant. I like the plant since it attracts bees but I really don't want to add anything invasive or unruly to my gardens.

Nice to know about the bees since it's outside the fence for my vegetable garden. And I'm growing it for cut flowers, so deadheading shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll watch it more closely than I might otherwise have done.

Caryl

Caryl, I had a neighbor several years ago who loved pink and white. I had three The Fairy roses that I've since taken out (were always spider mite magnents for me) and she used to come over and cut the rose, stems of feverfew for bouquets and make some wonderful (for her house palette) arrangements with just that little rose and the feverfew...

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:385809}}