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Tanacetum balsamita

 
Tanacetum balsamita

Synonym(s) Chrysanthemum balsamita
Common name costmary
Family asteraceae
Life cycle perennial
Flowers yellow (summer)
Size 18"
Light full sun-part shade
Cultural notes not fussy
From seed does not grow from seed

costmary
Handsome foliage in early June

For the longest time I didn't know what this plant was. It has large elongated mid-green leaves that smell strongly like bubblegum when crushed. After some detective work, I learned that I had costmary on my hands - it grew from a small plant purchased from Richters years ago, ignored, unwittingly transplanted from our herb circle to the back yard island hill. There it has lived ever since. Even though some sources caution that this is invasive, I have not found it to be the case. It spreads only modestly in the admittedly sub-ideal conditions we provide for it. I keep it around for its wonderful fragrance and its old-time herb lore.

This plant used to grow in our garden, but it slipped away...

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