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Artemisia schmidtiana 'Silver Mound' |
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| | A silvery burst in April |
| Common name |
wormwood |
| Family |
asteraceae |
| Life cycle |
perennial (Z3-10) |
| Flowers |
insignificant |
| Size |
10" |
| Light |
sun |
| Cultural notes |
well-drained soil |
A great silver-grey accent with lacy foliage that looks and feels soft as can be. They have not been the longest-lived perennials in our garden, maybe because they don't really care for the warm humid summers. We'll try a cutting-back and dividing regimen to keep our current ones alive, along with the position in the well-drained soil of our rock garden.
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This plant used to grow in our garden, but it slipped away... About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Artemisia schmidtiana 'Silver Mound'
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| judy | Jul 09, 2008 | Is wormwood a herb? Is it used for anything except for its foliage?
I have one on its second year. How long did yours last? mine came back much bigger. hope to keep it going.
Your page is great. I was looking for a picture because I could not remember the common name.
Generically, wormwood is an herb - but A. schmidtiana isn't used for anything but ornament, to the best of my knowledge. Other artemisias have utilitarian purposes, although I've not used them that way. |
| rlichon | Aug 09, 2008 | how do I cut them back for the winter?
I wouldn't cut all the way back - some artemisias are semi-woody, and will resprout from the bottom of last year's stems. But you can certainly cut down to about 3" in late fall. |
| p mccartan | Sep 15, 2008 | Is cutting back artemesia a good practice in Canada. We live in Southern Ontario.
I think so - cutting back the soft foliage may reduce the probability of rotting in wet winter weather. |
| D | Sep 15, 2008 | can I transplant these plants to another garden to another part of my yard?
I did not know that they are ground cover.
Help!!!!!
Silver mound artemisia stays low, but I wouldn't consider it a ground cover, since it doesn't spread. You can transplant it to a different place in your garden, but I would not do so too late in the year. Right about now would be fine. |
| KM | Sep 21, 2008 | I now understand that I should trim these plants and trim them for the winter but can I split them?
In my experience they grow from a single semi-woody stem - I would not know how to split them. |
| Joann Daley | Oct 03, 2008 | how far do you cut back a silver mound?
I cut away all of the soft growth, leaving just a small woody skeleton. |
| T. Fleming | Oct 13, 2008 | I have 2 artemisias, powis castle and silver mound, and I live in new york city. My two are in pots, (don't have a garden) and I wanted to know if they should go indoors for the winter or not.
They are quite hardy - should easily be able to overwinter in NYC, even in a pot. Protect from excessive moisture (make sure the pot drains, or place under cover), and they should be back just fine next year. |
| Phyllis | Apr 08, 2009 | I live in the Dallas Ft Worth area. I planted a powis Castle last year in the summer. It was doing really well until the winter. It had grown busy but is now quite leggy. Will it get back fuller and if not how can I make it grow back busy? It is nothing left by a little of the greenery.
It may behave differently in warmer climates, but here the artimisia dies back to a woody framework in winter. I cut it back to just a stubby skeleton in early spring. New growth comes in quickly from the bottom part of the old stems. |
| sailor | May 05, 2009 | Has anyone had problem with deer or rabbits with the beauty?? |
| Shi | May 14, 2009 | Is there a way to dwarf a silver mound? Like, keep it in a pot as a house plant, and continually cutting back the roots like bonsai?
These artemisias prefer full sun, and most likely won't grow very well in any kind of house-plant setting. Outside, they can be trimmed back - in fact I think they prefer it, and will respond with more compact, fuller growth. |
| Patricia | Jun 10, 2009 | I am wanting to put this plant in a very large tank with Asian flying frogs. Do you know if it is toxic to animals? I have read that birds and bees like it but that rabbits and deers stay away...do not want to hurt/kill frogs!
I've no reason to believe it would be toxic (it's probably just unappetizing to deer) - but then, I've never tried to raise Asian flying frogs! |
| karen Copeland | Jun 24, 2009 | My cat loves to roll in it and chew on it! Is it OK for cats? |
| Alfred Alexander | Jun 25, 2009 | I have had some luck with cuttings Take a long stem,use a rooting compound
put in moist potting soil |
| Heidi | Jun 30, 2009 | We have silver mounds in our front garden, but they are getting very large and growing into the flowers and bushes. Can we trim back the foliage a bit, or will this harm the plant? Thanks!
Trimming back the foliage should hurt the plant a bit. Go for it. |
| Karen | Jul 05, 2009 | I have 4 nursery purchased Artemisia schmidtiana. Do I have to plant them 3 feel from other perennials due to the scent that I've read may inhibit growth in the nearby perennials?
I've never heard that. This plant is commonly used in perennial borders, so I doubt any inhibiting effect is severe. |
| Cathy | Jul 09, 2009 | Mine got so big that I cut them way back. Too much, in fact, as now I have just woody stems. Will they regrow this season, will they come back next year?
There's a good probability they'll regrow - they certainly do when cut back hard in early spring, a summertime cutback will be somewhat harder on them. |
| Betty Faler | Aug 25, 2009 | I have 3 silver mound artemisia & they have grown much more than I anticipated. Right now, they are starting to blossom.(I didn't know they would blossom.)I think it is too late in the season to cut back now. Am I correct? If so, I will wait 'til later this fall. What time of year should one cut them back to keep them a smaller mound? (They are sprawled all over the place & crowding out my other plants.)
You can cut back to some extent right now (I would not cut back too hard, but snipping blooms off and trimming excess foliage should be fine). Then cut back harder in preparation for winter. |
| cathy b | Aug 25, 2009 | I did not know you should cut back in early summer; mine have spread in the middle-no defined mound now. Should I cut back in fall or are they ruined now?
You should be able to cut back now to improve its look - and it should be fine for next year. |
| Rita | Aug 27, 2009 | i would like to cut this in half as it is gotten very big and round, growing into some of the other plants I have. Can I cut this back and take part of this and plant it in another garden? When is the best time to do this.?
If it's like the specimens I've grown, it cannot be easily divided, growing from a central woody stem. I recommend cutting it back for now, to reduce smothering of your other plants, and giving it a better place next spring. |
| Kris Kody | Aug 30, 2009 | I have several that seem to have some sort of rot or fungus in the center which has split out the middle (and make these beauties quite ugly looking). It has been an awfully rainy spring and summer in New England. Is there anything I can do for them? I have others that are just gorgeous. Am I correct in assuming that it is likely due to differing soil conditions and drainage patterns? Any action I can take? Do they transplant well? |
| deb in michigan | Sep 20, 2009 | our silver mounds have gone crazy and have overtaken our beds and the blue grass time for haircuts |
| brenda jO | Oct 05, 2009 | I am brand new to planting ..plants! And one I picked is silvermound. I live in SD, it just started snowin', and I wonder if you could give me some advice on my newly planted one so that it might survive the winter! Any hints would be soo great!! Thankyou
If it's already planted, it should be OK. The soil is still warm enough for some root development. Cut the top growth back when cold temperatures kill the foliage, and make sure the plant doesn't get waterlogged in winter. That's about as much as you can do - I wouldn't go overboard on mulching or other protective measures, although a little bit of mulch after the ground freezes may be useful if frost heaving is a problem where you live. |
| S in Bonney Lake, Wa | Oct 14, 2009 | We have the Silver Mound Artemisia, and it is new to us this year. I have to say that it is the softest fluffiest most beautiful silvery foliage I have ever seen. (Much more silvery than the above picture would indicate.) We have it in a partly sunny area and the soil is surely quite naturally acidic because we have cedar, fir and hemlock trees all within about 30 feet on all sides. Lots of natural mulch from the trees. I don't know if that affects the color of the foliage. Do you know the answer to that?
I think the "silveriness" is all in the quality of light. It shimmers most in the sunshine, when it's hard to take photos - so the pictures on this page are all taken in softer light. |
| S in Lenexa | May 18, 2010 | You are incorrect, you can divide these plants and you can take cuttings and make new plants.
Cuttings, sure. But I don't believe it's possible to divide it - at least ours has always grown from a central woody stem. |
| Debra Oster | Jul 02, 2010 | How do I keep birds from destroying my silver mound plants? They have ruined two of them now picking them apart to make nests!!!
Wow, that's a problem I haven't encountered. You must have very special birds. Maybe the solution is to plant more of them, so the birds can have their fill and none of the plants will be completely picked over? |
| Melissa Havea | Jul 15, 2010 | My husband is Tongan and they use this plant in a liquid form. They just grow it in their yards, cut off what they want and boil it. My husband uses it as medicine it seems to slim him down when he does use it. |
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Last modified:
April 23, 2005
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