Am I Taking Good Care Of My Artemisia?

Did you planted your artemisia in full sun?

Did you planted your artemisia in overly rich or overly poor soil?

Do you water your artemisia often?

Do you fertilize your artemisia regularly?

Do you cut-back your artemisia from time to time?

Do you keep your artemisia free of pests and diseases?

Artemisias will grow best in a full sun location, although most varieties can handle partial shade. You should find a place where your plants can get at least 6 hours of sunlight each day.

Artemisia does not like overly rich or overly poor soil, but do well in average and well-drained soil. Soils that are too rich or too poor create the condition of splitting, dying out, or separating in the middle of the mound. Artemisia plants are also not particular about soil pH.

As with most silver-gray leaved perennials, artemisias are drought tolerant. Young plants need regular water, but once the plants are established they can take care of themselves. In the summer in prolonged periods of drought, you can water artemisias but make sure the soil is evenly moist.

Since artemisia do not like rich soil, no supplemental fertilizer is necessary, but only if you are regularly adding organic matter to your beds.

Perennial artemisias can be cut back in the fall or spring. Shrubby varieties should be pruned in the spring. They can handle being cut back hard if you want to keep their size in check. Even non-woody artemisia can get floppy, especially after flowering. Give them a shearing mid-summer, to prevent them from splitting open in the middle.

Good job! You are taking good care of your artemisia.

Because of their strong scent, insects and other pests tend to avoid artemisias. They are, however, prone to many fungal diseases, like white rust, powdery mildew, and downy mildew. Hot, humid weather exacerbates these problems. Growing them in an open area with good airflow will help mitigate the problems.