Tanacetum parthenium
Feverfew
Common names: Featherfew
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 30 cm, rows 40 cm
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Sowing
- Mar–May
- Harvest
- Jun–Sep
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −15 °C
- Water need
- Low
Description
Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) is a hardy perennial with finely divided, light green foliage and daisy‑like white flowers with a yellow center. From June to September it produces abundant blooms that attract many beneficial insects. The plant can become very prolific; at a suitable site, numerous seedlings often appear in the surrounding area the following year. Historically used in folk medicine, it is best used under professional guidance. As a robust border plant or bee meadow, feverfew makes a good addition to any small garden.
Care instructions
Feverfew is low‑maintenance once established. Water only during prolonged dry periods; soggy soil is detrimental. Regularly remove spent flower heads to control vigorous self‑seedling production; otherwise the plant will spread widely throughout the bed. A winter prune keeps the clump compact, and the plant reliably regrows in spring. It thrives in a sunny to partially shaded spot with well‑drained soil and can persist for several years.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingMar–May
HarvestJun–Sep
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 12 °C, ideally 20 °C
- Days to sprout
- 10 to 21 days
- Light
- Needs light to sprout
- Sowing depth
- Press in, don't cover
- How to start
- Start indoors, then plant out
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, lean, dry, lime-loving
Feverfew likes it rather lean and well-drained; it tolerates waterlogged soils poorly. A sunny, warm spot with loose, calcareous soil comes closest to its origin in dry habitats. Heavy, loamy soils are best loosened with sand or grit so that water drains away well.
Feeding
Light feeder
As an undemanding wild perennial, feverfew needs hardly any extra nutrients. A thin dose of compost in spring is entirely enough; more would only encourage soft, vulnerable growth. Do without regular feeding; the plant feels most at home in lean beds.
Overwintering
Feverfew is hardy and gets through normal winters in the bed without protection. In very harsh areas or in hard frost without snow cover, a loose mulch layer of leaves or brushwood over the root helps. Since the plant likes to self-seed anyway, many gardeners grow it more as a two-year to perennial plant, with offspring from self-sowing.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Cuttings
- Division
The easiest way is to sow feverfew from March on the windowsill or directly outdoors from May, pressing the fine seeds down only lightly, as they are light-germinating seeds. Older clumps can be divided in spring or autumn, which rejuvenates the plant and gives you new specimens straight away. Tip cuttings from non-flowering shoots also root reliably in loose seed compost. Once established, feverfew often self-seeds in the bed.
Companion planting
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Feverfew yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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