Tansy and Fruity Teucrium Can be Garden Friends

Are Tansy and Fruity Teucrium Compatible Garden Friends?

When I first planted tansy and fruity teucrium together in an oddly shaped corner of my flower bed nearest the street, I had four reasons for doing it.

Tansy and Teucrium First planted in 2013, © B. Radisavljevic

1. They would fit there.
2. They could live in poor soil and required little water
3. They would fill in the space as they grew. 
4. Their flower colors would be complementary to each other

I wanted to fill in that one small triangle tip. I also had heard that tansy was good for repelling ants, so I thought it might be helpful to have some on hand. (It turned out not to repel my ants.) The teucrium would bloom first with its light purple flowers. The tansy would make its big splash of bright yellow in summer and overshadow the teucrium. 

The plants were tiny, as you can see above, when I planted them in June, 2013. I knew tansy could be invasive, and since I was trying to fill space with something that would smother the weeds, I thought its tendency to take over would serve that purpose. I like to pick my weeds. My plan would have worked better had I realized when I planted that I should have planted these tiny herbs farther apart. 

By August 25, 2015, that triangular corner looked like this. The teucrium swallowed the tiny tansy at the very end, but it still peeks through when it finds a way. The tansy does spread, but it also dies back after it blooms in July leaving these empty spaces. That doesn't stop it from trying to invade the teucrium, though. 

Tansy and Teucrium by August, 2015, © B. Radisavljevic

Things to Know about Fruity Teucrium and Tansy

The fruity teucrium is also called fruity germander. It flowers bountifully in spring and fall, but not so much in summer while the tansy is in full bloom. It is dearly loved by bees and butterflies. After the flowers bloom, they turn brown, as you can see above. 

Tansy leaves also turn brown in the summer heat, so it's recommended that when that happens one should cut them them to the ground. According to an article I just read about tansy, if this is done early enough, new foliage may grow out and there may even be a new round of blooming. I'll try to remember that this year. For comparison, this is how my little triangle looked on July, 9, 2014.

Tansy in July, 2015, © B. Radisavljevic

Just so you can get a closer look at the fruity teucrium (or fruity germander), I will show you these photos taken in August, 2015. Here's the whole plant, or at least most of it. These two photos are also part of one of the related articles below. 

Teucrium by August, 2015, © B. Radisavljevic

Here is a closeup of the fruity teucrium flower. 

Close-up of Teucrium Flower, August, 2015, © B. Radisavljevic

I took the photo below today, April 23, 2016. The tansy is reemerging and invading the teucrium. In fall I will probably do some root divisions and move some of these plants to where nothing else but weeds and gazanias will grow. I may have made a mistake in believing tansy and teucrium can be garden friends, but I will leave that for you to decide.  

Tansy and Teucrium Together in April, 2016, © B. Radisavljevic

I share my garden experiments in case the information may help others know what to expect if they do what I have done. Like most home gardeners, I have both successes and failures. I hope something I share in these posts will help you.

Note; Please keep in mind that tansy can be toxic to pets and people. Use it with care.

If you this post useful, please share it. The sharing buttons are just above the comment box at the end of the post. The photo below is especially designed for pinning.

This is my twentieth post for the 2016 AtoZchallenge, a Blogging Challenge for the month of April, 2016. My theme is plants, since this is a gardening blog. Here are links to the other posts if you missed them.

A is for Apple Blossoms
B is for Bottlebrush
C is for Carnations
D is for Daisy
E is for Elderberry
F is for Flowers
G is for Gazania
Hollyhocks are Edible
Irises Are Garden Survivors
Jupiter's Beard: A Mystery Finally Solved
Kale for Lunch
Lion's Tail - A Perennial Summer Burst of Orange
Miner's Lettuce is Tasty and Free"Naked Ladies" Bloom in August
Oleander through the Year
Plant Pests and their Predators: Aphids and Ladybugs
Quince Fruit from Blossom to Table
Roses Are Not Just Red

Sages Add Color and Attract Beneficial Insects to Your Garden

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Related articles

• My Experience with Teucrium Cossonii aka Fruity Germander
• My Experience Growing Tansy
• How My Garden Has Progressed in Two Years Since 2012

G is For Gazania

Gazanias are simple but lovely flowers. Because they are so common here in California, it's easy to not notice the flowers much during the seasons when taller and more spectacular flowers are in bloom. In winter, though, they shine, and bring bright color to gloomy landscapes. That's why I've chosen it over other flowers to represent the letter "G" in this AtoZchallenge

As you see in the photo above, the bright color of the gazania attracts spiders and insects. In the photo below you see a visiting butterfly. 

There are two types of gazanias -- clumping and trailing. They will both cover the ground and they are about the same height. They both spread, but the trailing spread more quickly with their long running stems. Here's a photo where you can see some of my clumping gazanias growing under a goldenrain tree in my side yard. They are gradually spreading, but still have some space to fill. I'm hoping to get the weeds out and plant some root divisions soon. It's April, and the weeds have sprung up with the recent rains. 

Gazanias are used most often as groundcover and border plants. They are also used as fillers around new perennial shrubs until the shrubs grow enough to be attractions on their own. In the photo below, the gazanias are acting as groundcover in the space beside my driveway up to the boundary of my neighbor's yard. The kale you see on the edge spouted on its own, probably planted by the wind from the mother plant last year. 

In the photo above, you will notice that the flowers are not open. That's because today is cloudy. Gazanias only open in the sun. They close at night and when it is overcast. 

Below you see gazanias filling the space between the edge of the flower bed, surrounding the carnations, and extending almost to the rosemary in the center back. Without the gazanias, which I do need to divide now,  their space would be taken by the weeds like the ones now surrounding the irises. I hope I have time to get at those weeds soon. 

Gazanias don't need much care. They thrive in full sun and can tolerate poor soil. They don't need much water so we can consider them drought-resistant plants. What they can't handle is hard frost. One year almost all my gazanias died when we had an abnormally cold winter and the temperature got down to 12 F. This next photo shows what happened that year. The tops may die back, but most roots survive and revive the plants in warmer weather. 

If it doesn't get that cold in winter, the gazanias just bring a bit of sunshine to mostly dormant flower beds. 

Most of my gazanias have the  coloring of the ones below. Gazanias are available in many colors. I like the sunny ones. 

Sometimes gazanias spread in ways only nature understands. I have told my gardener to just mow around this one.  I just may take out the lawn and replace it with gazanias that don't need mowing or much water. I don't water the lawn anymore anyway now that brown lawns are fashionable during the drought. I will replace it with drought-resistant plants and bark chips as soon as I have the time and money. 

Are you growing gazanias yet? If not, why not pick up some seeds and get them in the ground so they can brighten your garden? Here are some of the available colors. 

 Outsidepride Gazania Red Shades - 100 seeds Outsidepride Gazania Garden Leader Striped Mix - 100 seeds Outsidepride Gazania Kiss Orange - 100 seeds

If you enjoyed this post, please share it. The sharing buttons are just above the comment box at the end of this post. The photo below is especially designed for pinning. 

This is my seventh post for the 2016 AtoZchallenge, a Blogging Challenge for the month of April, 2016. My theme is plants, since this is a gardening blog.  Here are links to the other posts if you missed them.

A is for Apple Blossoms
B is for Bottlebrush
C is for Carnations
D is for Daisy

E is for Elderberry
F is for Flowers

Related articles

• What Blooms in November?