All around where I live Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) grows like a weed and is in full bloom at the moment. The cheery yellow buttons that are its flowers can easily be spotted from quite a distance away.

Tansy has a rather interesting history as an herb and its uses date back for centuries. At one point in time it was used medicinally as a bitter herb and a way of ridding the body of parasites. These practices are no longer used as the herb in recent times has been found to be too potent for consumption.

In the Middle Ages, Tansy was quite popular as a strewing herb. It was dried and sprinkled about as it was believed to repel pests such as ants and flies. In many a home, one would find bouquets of Tansy hanging to dry. The leaves were also rubbed on meat in attempts to preserve it longer.

In the modern day herb garden Tansy is a welcome- if not somewhat invasive- pretty flower to grow with lacey, fern-like foliage. In bloom, Tansy attracts beneficial insects like no other plant seems to be able to. The flat and tiny blooms appear to be irresistible to our garden allies.

Today Tansy is mostly used for its ornamental purposes both in and out of the garden. Dried, the flowers are excellent in arrangements. One could also place the dried leaves in sachets to be used as an insect repellent. If it grows a bit out of hand, as it does spread by underground rhizomes, it can be pulled and added to the compost head for its potassium content.

My main interest in Tansy is for a completely different reason than the ones stated above. I grow it not only for its historicalness but also for the fact that it makes an excellent dye for wool. I have used Tansy in my dye baths multiply times and have yet to be disappointed. I have been able to yield gorgeous shades of green and yellow from this one simple herb. I recently gathered a large amount for dyeing and was able to produce the results shown in the photos below.

I love herbs that have history behind them and Tansy is no exception. To some, it might be considered too weed-like for their garden but to me it is one herb I would never leave out. After all, if it gets too out of hand I just toss it in the dye pot!

*EDITED:   There appears to be some confusion over the Tansy I am referring to in this post. Please do not mistake the Common Tansy I write about, Tanacetum vulgare, for the dangerous and harmful Tansy Ragwort or Senecio jacobaea.  Below I have supplied a few links to help clear up some of this confusion.

• Why you should definitely avoid Tansy Ragwort if you have horses and why Common Tansy should also be kept from them.
• Information on Tansy Ragwort
• More useful information on Tansy Ragwort
• Oregon Department of Agriculture’s info on Tansy Ragwort
• Google image search for Tansy Ragwort for identification help
• Google image search for Common Tansy for identification help

Now to continue on with our last nature walk: in the last post I showcased two very bright wildflowers that jumped out at us as we wandered the path we were on. I am more drawn to softer colors and really enjoyed the wildflowers found in today’s post. I like the soothing colors of blue and purple flowers and the wild lupines in full bloom certainly fit that bill.

Broadleaf Lupine (Lupinus latifolius)

I have never before seen a wild larkspur and had to look these pretty flowers up to identify them. We did not find very many of these blooming so I felt rather lucky to stumble upon the few that we did.

Upland Larkspur (Delphinium nuttallianum)

The final flower to show from this nature walk was one of the sweetest little wildflowers I have seen. Small little white bells tinged with blue dotted the landscape here and there and would remain unseen if you were not paying close attention.

Bicolor Triteleia (Triteleia grandiflora var. howellii)

I hope to have my family go on a couple more wildflower hunts this spring while we still have the chance to spot a few. If there is one thing I have learned about nature from gardening is that Mother Nature does not wait for you. One must go out and enjoy all Mother Nature has to offer while you can because if you snooze you lose! The wildflower displays may be short lived but they are so worth going out and finding them.

Northwest Balsamroot growing next to Harsh paintbrush

It leaves me in complete awe over how beautifully and effortlessly Mother Nature will design her garden. Everything seems to flow so perfectly together. Colors complement each other with ease. Nothing looks out of place or arranged. A gardener can learn so much just by observing how Nature designs her garden.

Northwest Balsamroot in full bloom. In the background you can look across the Columbia River and see Washington.

The two wildflowers highlighted in today’s post are Harsh Paintbrush (Castilleja hispida) and Northwest Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza deltoidea). Everywhere we turned these two flowers were blooming close to one another like a perfect pair.

Bright and cheerfull colors in Mother Nature's garden

They certainly jumped out at us from a distance being as bright as they are.

Northwest Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza deltoidea)

Honey bee paying a visit to a Northwest Balsamroot flower.

Wickedly bright red is the flower of the Harsh paintbrush (Castilleja hispida).

It was a gloriously beautiful spring day to be out wildflower hunting. Later this week I will show some softer colors that we also spotted on our wildflower hunt.