What is Happening in the Herb Garden and Kitchens This Week?

by Barbara F. Smith

Corn husks by the door,

Braided with red chili strings —

Autumn decorations.

Wait! It’s about three weeks until the equinox! Though the air is cooler, the bees are buzzing, and there is much to enjoy in the BBG Herb Gardens. Common Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is a featured herb this week, blooming in the dyeing bed of the Herb Display Garden (see photo above). Native to Europe and Asia, Tansy, sometimes called golden buttons or bitter buttons, has widely spread through North America. It is a herbaceous perennial member of the Asteraceae family, one of the largest families of flowering plants. One distinguishing characteristic of this family is their “compound flowers” — what looks like a single flower is actually many small flowers attached as a “disk flower.”

Hardy to zone 4, Tansy grows in clumps “with a blowsy charm” preferably in sunny conditions with moist soil, growing to a height of 3-5 feet tall with clusters of bright yellow half-inch flowers adding extra interest from July to September. One writer called tansy a “pleasure in the garden for its dark green ferny leaves.” Those leaves have been described as having a strong and bitter smell, somewhat like camphor. Often featured in cottage or meadow gardens, tansy can spread readily through its rhizomatous root system or by prolific self-sowing.

Scientifically, tansy contains an oil known as thujone, which can cause skin irritation or contact dermatitis. That oil also deters the growth of fungi and bacteria. Through the Middle Ages, tansy was used in funeral rites to prepare bodies for burial. In the 17 to 19th centuries, Europeans and Americans wrapped corpses in tansy leaves to prevent rapid decay. Its smell has a reputation for repelling moths and insects, and it was one of the stronger strewing herbs. (Strewing herbs were fragrant plants scattered on the floors of households of all ranks to improve the smell and mask odors. Usually, these herbs were mixed with straw or placed on top of reeds or rushes.) Medicinally, certain Native American groups used an infusion of tansy for backaches, dizziness and stomach disorders.

Tansy is used in dyeing fabrics, producing some of the strongest light-fast yellow dyes. Herb Display Garden Coordinator Elizabeth Leonard shared a photo of a blanket woven by her friend (shown above). The yarns used were all dyed by hand including marigold, goldenrod, tansy, and sandalwood, with the tansy producing the lovely lemony yellow. What a wonderful example of natural dyeing and beautiful weaving. Thank you, Elizabeth! Tansy flowers dry well and keep their color, making them useful in potpourri, bouquets or wreaths. Generally, tansy has very little use in cooking. In fact, ingesting too much may be poisonous, possibly fatal.

Another herb putting on a late summer show is Russian sage, previously known as Perovskia atriplicifolia, now reclassified as Salvia yangii. A clever headline about this switch noted “The Sage That Wasn’t a Sage is Now a Sage,” further noting that earlier garden writers observed “this popular plant is neither a sage nor from Russia.” Well, that was before taxonomists made the change. So, the correct scientific way to write the name for Russian sage is Salvia yangii (Perovskia atriplicifolia). The plant is still not native to Russia, but instead to western China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, but it is a sage!

The Perennial Plant Association named Russian sage its “Plant of the Year” in 1995. Hardy in zones 3-8, it prefers full sun, dry and well-drained conditions and may grow nearly four feet tall (see photo above). In shady areas, the plants will grow but be “leggy and sprawling.” Once established, the plant is easy to grow, with no disease or insect problems. This sub-shrub has a woody base with airy, silver stems and small, greyish foliage. Small, light blue to lavender flowers are arranged in whorls along the stem and the spikes are often 12-inch long or more. Russian sage blooms July through September and remains interesting in winter with its silvery foliage. For best results, this deer-resistant plant should be cut back nearly to the ground each spring before new growth begins. In the landscape, Russian sage works well as a filler in borders or to separate dominant colors. It combines well with ornamental grasses.

Several Asian cultures have used the plant to treat a variety of conditions, including diabetes, dysentery, fever and scabies. It is also used as a parasiticide, analgesic, and antibacterial agent. Recent research is focusing on possible applications in developing drug therapies to counteract dementias.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE BBG HERB KITCHEN?

In the cool kitchen, herbal teas were on the menu — “Luscious Lemon Tea” — featuring dried and blended lemongrass, lemon verbena and lemon balm was packaged into bags. A new variety of tea blend was also prepared, named “Liz’s Tea” (for the Herb Display Garden Coordinator Liz Leonard), which features dried rosemary, lemon verbena and apple mint. A new batch of Fresh Tomato Basil Dressing (including chives) was made; our delicious dressings sell out quickly!

In the warm kitchen, the kitchen crew prepared the first batch of the ever-popular Harvest Marmalade for this season. This recipe includes yellow or orange tomatoes, with this batch using “clementine” variety, shown above. Another late season product, Grape Rosemary Jelly was prepared, while Lavender Simple Syrup was prepared and bottled as well. You can find these, and other products created by the BBG Herb Associates, in the Gift Shop at the Visitor’s Center. Proceeds from sales benefit the Garden.

Particular references this week: The Encyclopedia of Herbs by A.O. Tucker and T. Debaggio, Timber Press (2009); the Complete Herb Book by Maggie Stuckey, Berkley Books ((1994); A Modern Herbal by Mrs. M. Greive, vol II, Harcourt Brace (1931); Native American Ethnobotany by Daniel E. Moerman, Timber Press (1998); Articles: “Overview of Russian Sage” University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension (2025); “Russian sage (Salvia yangii) Roots of Medicine” University of Iowa; “Not Truly Russian Sage” Texas Master Gardeners (November 2, 2020); “Perovskia atriplicifolia” Missouri Botanical Garden; “1995 Perennial Plant of the Year” Perennial Plant Association; “The Sage that Wasn’t a Sage is Now a Sage” The Bee Gardener, University of California (February 4, 2021).