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Plant Information Type: perennial
Propagation: division, cuttings
Light: full sun or part shade
Flower Color: silvery white foliage with cream or white flowers
Bloom Time: mid- to late summer
Height: 1-5 feet
Width: 1-2 feet
Soil Requirements: dry
Zones: 3-7
Uses: cutting bed, border, edging, rock garden, drying

Artemisias are valued for their silvery-white foliage. You'll creamy-colored flowers that are prized mainly for their fragrance from mid- to late summer. The frosted, fine textured leaves of artemisias blend well with coarser-leaved plants such as daffodils, hydrangeas and hibiscus. Low growing varieties such as Silver brocade make great edging plants. Most varieties will form a dense, compact mound than is noninvasive and prefers to be left undisturbed. For the best show, combine cool-looking artemisia with hot colored flowers in shades of yellow, pink and red and dark green foliage. If planted in a gap left by plants that have been removed from the garden, artemisia will ease itself into the void without crowding its neighbors.

Best Cultivars:

• 'Silver Mound' - lush silvery leaves and slender stems.
• 'Silver Brocade' - has deeply cut silver foliage and can spread up to two feet. It looks good in a rock garden and as an edging plant. It grows to only a foot high.
• 'Powis Castle' - shiny, silver-frosted foliage that stand up well in heat.
• 'Silver King,' - grows about 3 feet tall is excellent for cutting to use in fresh arrangements, and also dries well.
• 'White Mugwort' - grows 4 to 5 feet tall and has dark green leaves with silvery undersides.

Artemisias grow well in Zones 3-7. It thrives in extreme heat and poor soil, and will withstand full sun or light shade. Excellent drainage is essential. Too much moisture in the winter will cause the roots to rot. Set the plants 12 to 18 inches apart. Artemisia can be propagated by division, except for 'Silver Mound' which is propagated from stem cuttings in spring and summer. Clumps rarely spread and prefer to be left undisturbed.

Plants will become a little leggy in the fall, but it's best to wait until spring to prune. Plants pruned in fall often don't survive the winter.