Artemisia schmidtiana 'Silver Mound'

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Silver Mound Artemisia, Angels-Hair, or Wormwood

(Asteraceae [also known as Compositae] - Daisy Family)

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FEATURES

* Form
o small herbaceous perennial
o maturing at about 1' tall by 1.5' wide
o spreading mound growth habit

* Culture
o full sun to partial sun
o placement in moist, well-drained, relatively infertile soils in full sun prevents excessive vertical vegetative growth, which will usually prevent the center of the foliage mound from unattractively opening up and separating by mid-Summer
o if placed in fertile soils, the foliage may grow from 1' to 1.5' tall; in this case, clump splittiing can be prevented or delayed by shearing the foliage back halfway in July, before flowering begins
o tolerant of poor soils, dry soils, heat, and drought
o propagated by crown division or by rooted stem cuttings
o Daisy Family, with stem rot or foliage rust under humid conditions being the two primary disease problems, and with no significant pest problems
o moderately available in containers

* Foliage
o alternate, silvery-green tomentose leaves arise from short stems, and are twice palmately divided into linear segments of extremely fine foliage texture
o fall color remains silvery, until quickly dying back to the crown with the initial frosts

* Flowers
o inflorescences are silver in bud and yellow-white in flower, are small, sparse to non-existent, may be unnoticed above the silver foliage, are ornamentally insignificant, and bloom in August (if at all)

* Fruits
o ornamentally insignificant

* Twigs
o not applicable

* Trunk
o not applicable

* ID Summary
o extremely fine-textured, silvery, hair-like foliage occurs on mounds of hidden herbaceous stems, and is the primary feature of this low-spreading foliage perennial, which tends to split apart at the center of the crown in mid-Summer if it is not annually divided or placed in poor soils, and has sparse flowering in mid- to late Summer (if at all) that is ornamentally insignificant

USAGE

* Function
o edging, specimen, border, mass planting, rock garden, or focal point mounding perennial

* Texture
o very fine texture
o thick density

* Assets
o silver-colored, fine-textured foliage in a spreading mound form
o works well as a neutral spacer or framing plant, in combination with perennials whose flowers are mostly in the cool color range (pink, lavender, blue, purple, and even scarlet to maroon)
o fairly drought tolerant

* Liabilities
o foliage often splits apart in the center of the clump by mid-Summer for mature-size clumps
o foliage may rot or rust under high humidity conditions

* Habitat
o zones 3 to 7
o native to Japan

SELECTIONS

* Alternates
o herbaceous plants with silvery-gray foliage (Antennaria dioica, Artemisia species, Cerastium tomentosum, Helichrysum petiolare, Perovskia atriplicifolia, Stachys byzantina, etc.)

* Variants
o Artemisia schmidtiana 'Silver Mound' (also known as 'Nana') - the standard form available, as described throughout this text; this is the only common Artemisia that has a prostrate growth habit, and is one of the few that is not invasive by underground rhizomes
o several species, cultivars, and hybrids of Artemisia exist, usually noteworthy as silver- or gray-foliaged perennials of various upright growth habits and medium to fine textures, often used as foliage perennials that mix well with cooler-colored perennials (those with pink, lavender, blue, or purple flowers, or even scarlet or maroon among the semi-warm colors)

NOTES

* Translation
o Artemisia is named for the Greek deity Artemis, goddess of chastity.

* Purpose
o Silver Mound Artemisia is a perennial that is very effective when used along walkways or in the front of the perennial garden bed for its silver color, fine texture, and mounding habit.

* Summary
o Artemisia schmidtiana 'Silver Mound' is a silver-foliaged, fine-textured, mounding perennial that serves as an excellent edging plant.

Contact Information

Department of Horticulture and Crop Science,
The Ohio State University
202 Kottman Hall
2021 Coffey Road
Columbus, OH 43210

Phone: 614-292-1809, FAX: 614-292-7162.
Email: Randle.15@osu.edu

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