He is obviously enjoying himself very much and invited some of his friends over to join him as I began to upload his photos. If I want to gather any of the seeds for us I suppose I better get out there soon before it is too late.

I happen to have two types of sunflowers growing all about the garden this year and I did not plant a single one. I have the sunflower house to thank for directly sowing some of its seeds last year. I can also thank some of our feathered friends for scattering their bird seed mix about the garden and ensuring they will have fresh seeds to munch on this fall.

I love the surprises a garden can bring like self-sown sunflowers and Scrub Jays robbing them in the early morning hours!

(All photos can be clicked on to view full size.)

A rather scary looking creature with wings is completely and totally in love with my flowering orange mint these days. It has everyone on edge and afraid to approach this pretty plant. I have not a clue what type of wasp he might be and a Google search has not led to many leads.  Perhaps he is a Potter Wasp? He is rather skittish and flies away quickly if anyone gets close (another reason he has everyone frightened).

In the picture below you can see a bumblebee to the left and the wasp to the right. Note how much larger he is in comparison to the bumblebee which is normally the largest winged insect visiting this garden.

I hope some readers out there might be able to help me in identifying this big orange wasp. He appears to be about 2 inches long (?!). Yikes. The curious thing about him is I am only finding him on my orange mint. He is visiting no other flower in the garden which I find rather interesting.

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