Plant of the Month – July

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White Sagebrush, Silver Wormwood
Artemisia ludoviciana

  • Plant Form: Evergreen sub-shrub
  • Water Use: Low
  • Mature Size: 2-3 ft. tall x 3-4 ft. wide
  • Exposure: Full sun, part sun
  • Bloom Time: Summer (July-Aug), Fall (Sept)
  • Native to: North America
  • Hardiness: Cold hardy to <0°F

White Sagebrush spreads to fill in those bare spaces between shrubs while providing a silvery contrast to darker green plants around it. This North American native groundcover is extremely hardy, tolerating poor soils, heat, and drought.

White Sagebrush is grown for its beautiful silver-white foliage. This attractive groundcover’s native range extends from Canada to Mexico. It spreads by underground stems (rhizomes) to create a bushy clump. Although its small yellow flowers are inconspicuous, its silvery, felt-covered foliage is valued to complement neighboring green foliage and is useful in cut flower arrangements or in dried arrangements (dry stems first by hanging upside-down in a dark room). The crushed leaves are wonderfully aromatic, and are resistant to browsing by deer and rabbits. This fast-spreading plant combines well with almost everything, but if it spreads beyond your wishes, soil barriers can be used to keep it inside borders. Although this sage tolerates heat, drought, and poor soils, it does require well-drained soils. Shear plants to revitalize them. Use under roses and shrubs, in beds and containers, on slopes, and in butterfly, moonlight, cottage, herb, and rock gardens.

 

Check out our “Garden Tasks” for July