Artemisia 'Silver Lining'

Common Name: white sagebrush 
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Asteraceae
Zone: 4 to 9
Height: 1.00 to 1.25 feet
Spread: 2.50 to 3.00 feet
Bloom Time: August to September
Bloom Description: Yellow
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Flower: Insignificant
Leaf: Colorful, Fragrant
Tolerate: Rabbit, Deer, Drought, Erosion, Dry Soil

Culture

Best grown in poor to moderately fertile, dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun. Excellent soil drainage is essential for growing this plant well. Does poorly in moist to wet soils where plants are susceptible to root rot. General foliage decline may occur in hot and humid summer climates.

'Silver Lining' offers good drought tolerance once established.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Artemisia is a genus containing about 200 species of evergreen and deciduous shrubs, perennials and annuals mostly native to dry temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Many of the species feature aromatic, pinnately divided or finely dissected silvery-green foliage and non-showy flowers.

Genus is named for Artemis, Greek goddess of the moon, wild animals and hunting.

'Silver Lining' is a hybrid artemisia selection that features silvery greenish-white, dissected foliage and a broadly mounding to spreading growth habit. This cultivar was selected from seed grown plants resulting from a cross between Artemisia ludoviciana 'Silver Queen' as the seed parent and A. stelleriana 'Silver Brocade' as the pollen parent. Mature clumps will reach 1.25' tall and spread to fill a 3' area. Branched inflorescences reaching around 1' tall bear small clusters of minute, yellowish flowers in summer. Grown primarily as a foliage plant and the flowers are not considered ornamentally significant.

Problems

Plants tend to open up in summer. Watch for rhizomatous spread.

Susceptible to root rot in moist soils, particularly poorly drained ones. Deer and rabbits tend to avoid this plant. 'Silver Lining' offers an improved growth habit that resists opening up in the summer and does not have aggressive rhizomatous spread.

Uses

Ground cover or edging plant plant for rock gardens, retaining walls, and border fronts. Suitable as a "spiller" plant in large container plantings.