Who you callin' a Pansy?
This is a Tansy. And it looks a lot better today than it did just one short week ago, when, as everyone must remember, it was really dry. And hot. I originally planted the tansy because it was purported to keep ants away, which happened to show up uninvited from time to time. "Just plant it by your door" and that was supposed to do the trick. The ants just nodded and walked around it, harrumph. In the end, we used mint spray to get rid of the ants. I was just going to say, we should have planted mint--but we did! We had a lot of it for several years. And yep, it was around the back door. It even grew up between the brick steps. Gotta love that mint. It doesn't affect the ants the way tansy is SUPPOSED to. The mint finally got tired of the searing heat, and didn't come back this year. ::sigh::
This almost looks like the tansy is out in the wild. In a way, it is. It's growing in the garden next to the house. The "grass" is quite persistent and grows quickly, sending out runners. I think it's called "crabgrass" in other places I've lived. Anyhoo, I don't like tending to it, and so I don't, very often. I'm afraid I'm not a very avid gardener here, having had some spectacular failures. The crazygrass makes a nice green background for the tansy, don't you think?
Here's another longtime resident of my garden - twelve years old now, I think:
Rosemary
Poor dear, almost didn't make it, for the first time. And then, it rained. You can see the new growth. I am waiting to see if it will bloom for us now. Have you ever seen rosemary in bloom? Beautiful!
8 comments:
I shouldn't say this because it might upset MR! But they do say if rosemary is growing well it shows the woman is in charge of the house! Now we can't have that now can we/ A woman in charge indeed pah!!
PS Oh my god your mint died out unheard off!
mirk: I know, mirk, it has been a lot of pressure! As I said, this plant is about 12 years old. Uh-oh, I must go, the Mr has dinner ready...
I found that ant powder works very well . lol.
fotoface: Ha! A product made for the purpose? Where's the challenge? :)
How funny Nina...ants are a problem here too and this is rain forest country! When you find a solution I'd love to know it. But I'll try that tansy and see if it works...
janice: as I read more about the tansy, it is said it may work as a companion plant for squash/cucumber types of plants, as well as roses to repel pests. Another suggestion was to place the cuttings at the windows, to repel flies. It seems tansy is quite toxic.
Perhaps a plant which would attract aphids (keep the ants outside?); ants use them somewhat like "cows". One year I planted nasturtium and had a lovely crop of aphids.
The thing is, once the ants are in, (you probably already know this) you have to break their path and their ability to find it. That's where the mint spray comes in, overwhelming their olfactory system, or whatever sensors ants have. Apparently there's a lovely cedar spray now, as well. :) Ugh, good luck with those ants.
i like tansy (and this post)
floots: It is a pretty one. They really like the sun, and come back for us each year. Cheers, floots.
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