Subject: Tansey Plant

From: [email-masked] (Randy Thompson)
Date: 28 Mar 1995 20:01:57 -0500

I am looking to plant one but I am unable to find any available in the
catalogs. Could someone send me a seedling? Also is it true ladybugs like
them as a nesting grounds?

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From: [email-masked] (Wendy Taylor)
Date: 29 Mar 1995 11:31:52 -0500

>them as a nesting grounds? 
 
Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is a hardy perennial that likes full 
sun and ordinary, even poor soil. It's undemanding, easy to 
grow and will quickly grow to a 3-4'clump of feathery, dark 
green leaves with bright yellow heads of button like flowers. 
It spreads by underground rhizomes and should be divided every 
two to three years. 
 
Ladybugs love this plant! 
-- 
Wendy                  |Free email herb plant & 
Harbor View Garden Co. |seed catalog available  
[email-masked]  [email-masked]

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From: ettings <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 4 Apr 95 22:46:52 -0500

Richters Herb Catalog has some for $1.25 Canadian/seed packet.  Watch it,
it's invasive! E-mail: [email-masked] or call (905)640-6677.

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From: [email-masked] (Bess Haile)
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 22:36:52 GMT

But it repels mosquitoes and what we call may flies (I think
they might really be deer flys...but they bite like the
dickens!)

Bess Haile
who would otherwise have to swat a lot more in her zone 7 garden

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From: ettings <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 4 Apr 95 22:46:52 -0500

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From: [email-masked] (Bess Haile)
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 22:36:52 GMT

Bess Haile

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From: ettings <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 4 Apr 95 22:46:52 -0500

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From: [email-masked] (Bess Haile)
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 22:36:52 GMT

Bess Haile

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From: helen ruth etters <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 1995 14:47:49 -0400

On Thu, 6 Apr 1995, Bess Haile wrote:

> But it repels mosquitoes and what we call may flie

How nice.  What must I do to get the tansey to repel mosquitoes?
Pick it, burn it, squash it?  Make a spray with it?  
Just have it growing nearby?

    @     @                                                 @     @     @  
 @  |  @  |  @                                           @  |  @  |  @  |  @
\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/             Helen Etters                \|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
	who recently received a tansey plant as a gift.

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From: [email-masked] (Charles Younger)
Date: 11 Apr 1995 13:19:39 GMT

helen ruth etters ([email-masked]) asked:

: How nice.  What must I do to get the tansey to repel mosquitoes?
: Pick it, burn it, squash it?  Make a spray with it?  
: Just have it growing nearby?

     It looks like the dried leaves are usually used.  Here's a quote 
 from _Magic_and_Medicine_of_Plants_: 

        Because of its strong smell, tansy is a natural insect 
        repellant.  In the Middle Ages dried tansy was one of 
        the "strewing herbs" scattered across floors to keep 
        pests away.  Housewives also hung it from rafters, packed 
        it between bedsheets and mattresses, and rubbed it on meat 
        to discourage lice, flies, and other vermin.  In more 
        recent times they, they have used it to repel moths and 
        get rid of fleas. 

 C.M.Younger
 Philadelphia, PA

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From: [email-masked] (Bess Haile)
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 1995 13:38:29 GMT

It just seems to work by growing there.  I haven't been able to
get it to work, say by putting sprigs in a hat and walking.
Seems the scent has to be pretty pronounced and if you are
walking you step out of the scent. 

Our house is on the site of the source of all the worlds may
flies and I defy anyone to prove to ME differently.  They are
the worst pests. When you step outside the mosquitoes and may
flies swarm.  I have to dash from the back door to the
garden...but once there, where the tansy, wormwood and
southernwood all grow, guess what! NO BUGS!  And we also have
these tiny bugs that can come through the screens....we call
them "no-seeums" and you can't see them till the next day when
they are all over the windowsills. But since I planted wormwood
outside my windows, they have diminised greatly.

Nothing short of chemicals seems to get rid of all the bad
bugs, but these plants sure help.

Best wishes
Bess Haile