How to Plant and Grow Feverfew

How to Grow Feverfew: A Medicinal and Visual Delight Tanacetum parthenium

To many in the herbal medicine community, feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) is known as a natural headache remedy.

But in the gardening community, this shrubby herb is appreciated as an attractive landscape plant.

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Continue on to learn all about growing feverfew in your garden. Here’s what I’ll cover:

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Masses of one-inch, white, daisy-like flowers with large yellow centers rise on spindly stems above parsley-like leaves.

Feverfew, which you might also see referred to as Matricaria parthenoides, Chrysanthemum parthenium, featherfew, febrifuge plant, featherfoil, midsummer daisy, flirtwort, or wild chamomile, grows anywhere from eight to 24 inches tall, with a width of about the same range.

This member of the aster family behaves like an annual in cooler zones, a perennial in some areas, and it can be evergreen in warmer southern climates.

Though it looks similar, it’s not to be confused with true chamomile, which you can read more about here.

While native to southeastern Europe, T. parthenium is now widespread throughout Europe, Australia, and North America, where it grows in USDA Hardiness Zones 5 to 10.

Used for many centuries in herbal medicine, it became popular in the 18th century after botanist and author John Hill referred to it in “The Family Herbal” as the most useful remedy for treating headaches.

Though its name may suggest an ability to lower body temperature, feverfew is instead mainly relied upon medicinally to treat and prevent headaches. It has also been used to