A few days ago my children and I went on a walk looking for various plants and flowers that we might gather for my natural dyes and medicinal uses. I noted that in just another week or two tansy will begin to flower. Tansy grows like a weed around where we live and many people may call it just that. I also noted that the goldenrod still has quite a bit longer to go before it begins to even set bud. This year I hope to gather some goldenrod for my dyes as well as for some medicinal purposes. I have not used goldenrod medicinally before but have been reading about it what it is good for and hope to try it out some.

One plant on our walk was in bloom and ready to be gathered for medicinal purposes or even for dyeing. That herb happens to be one of my favorites too. I am talking about Achilea millefolium or yarrow as it is commonly known.

Yarrow can indeed be used as a natural dye and will in fact produce various shades of yellow. It has been a favorite of mine for medicinal purposes for many years now. I like to turn to it in times of colds, flus, or fevers and will add it to my medicinal tea mixes.

My daughter had so much fun helping me pick a bundle of Yarrow’s flowering tops.

We brought this bundle home and hung it upside down to dry. Yarrow dries very nicely this way.

One could even use some of the flowers in a dried flower arrangement. Dried yarrow flowers hold up rather well and look pretty mixed with other dried botanicals.

I always make sure I point out my children on these walks how important it is to never take more than we can use and to always leave plenty of the plant behind to continue growing and producing. Also, it is so important to make sure you are harvesting from areas that you know have not been treated with pesticides. Safe and courteous wildcrafting is something I cannot stress enough! For more information on wildcrafting I suggest taking a look at this informative pdf link.

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

I did not intend to take so many days to post the last part of this wildflower walk that my family and I went on. Last week proved to be a very busy week in my garden and much was accomplished. Although it did wear me out and leave no time for anything else! I hope to share some of what I did in the garden later this week.

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.