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Your thoughts about Hypericum perforatum (St John Worts) and Tanacetum vulgare (Tansy)

Simone_in_WiltshireSimone_in_Wiltshire Posts: 1,073
in Wildlife gardening
Hello to all

I have been brave and ordered both plants as seeds, but I'm not sure if and where I should plant them in case the seeds germinate successfully. Currently, I tend to use a pot only.
Do they have advantage for wildlife? Since both seem to be poisonous for humans and have a habit of spreading with deep roots (Tansy up to 90 cm???), I want to make sure that I don't regret to have planted them.
After spending some minutes here in older entries, I'm none the wiser.

Thanks in advance

I ♥ my garden.

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Posts

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    Hypericum perforatum is a traditional herbal remedy, quite attractive, seeds about a bit. Tansy won't be any more poisonous than many other plants we grow all the time, Foxgloves for example. I wouldn't eat either of them but they won't jump up and poison you


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    edited December 2023
    We lived near a farm when we first moved to France in '85. The farmers wife used to make a liqueur with tansy leaves which she soaked in eau de vie. She called it Chartreuse.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • Simone_in_WiltshireSimone_in_Wiltshire Posts: 1,073
    Many thanks @nutcutlet and @Busy-Lizzie
    I will try to use St John’s Wort for oil. No idea why I picked Tansy out, but it was mentioned somewhere as summer solstice herbs. 

    I ♥ my garden.

  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    I have a patch of tansy near our pond and it definitely attracts the pollinators. In terms of a nuisance, from my experience, I'd be comfortable planting it in a border because it gently runs but hasn't self seeded anywhere. We have quite sandy, well drained soil and it's meant removing the runners was easy (it didn't seem to have very deep roots and none has come back from where I moved it).  
  • Simone_in_WiltshireSimone_in_Wiltshire Posts: 1,073
    This helps @thevictorian. Thanks a lot. 

    I ♥ my garden.

  • robairdmacraignilrobairdmacraignil Posts: 782
    Not grown that type of Hypericum but did get Tansy seed and found that they grow easy enough from seed and the plants seem fairly robust. It gets a bit bigger than I expected but I think it was one of the best plants I've grown in terms of the range of insects it attracted. I read it has some insecticidal activity but found a specific type of aphid was often feeding on it with no apparent harm to the tansy or the aphids which are in turn supposed to cause maturation delay in ladybirds and lace wing that feed on them. Would still be growing them except the girlfriend thought they looked too much like ragwort and so I dug them up after chopping down the flowers to stop them setting seed. Still think I may have had some seeds sprout but these plants have yet to flower to make a positive identification. Read that the leaves were used traditionally as a flavouring herb but there is some element of toxicity which might make this a bad idea. Posted a video showing the aphids here.

    Happy gardening!
    https://www.youtube.com/user/sustainableveg/videos
  • Simone_in_WiltshireSimone_in_Wiltshire Posts: 1,073
    Many thanks @robairdmacraignil
    Reading your comment gives me hope that I can give a wider range of insects something to eat. 

    I ♥ my garden.

  • Simone_in_WiltshireSimone_in_Wiltshire Posts: 1,073
    Do you have by chance Reseda odorata grandiflora (garden mignonette) @robairdmacraignil and @thevictorian?

    I ♥ my garden.

  • robairdmacraignilrobairdmacraignil Posts: 782
    Simone_in_Wiltshire said:
    Do you have by chance Reseda odorata grandiflora (garden mignonette) @robairdmacraignil and @thevictorian?


    Don't have that one and have not grown it in the past.
    Happy gardening!
    https://www.youtube.com/user/sustainableveg/videos
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    I'm sorry, I haven't grown it either.
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