Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Sea Foam Artemesia

Artemesia is such a cool plant. My favorite is 'Powis Castle', but I am always open to new cultivars. I purchased this little one in Maine on my summer trip up there last summer. It is Artemesia versicolor 'Sea Foam'. Mr. Fix-it and I thought it looked cool and picked it up at a local nursery in Maine.

The gray color of artemesia is a great color to show off all the busy greens of most perennials. I try to use gray a lot in my garden. Why am I telling you this? At the time of purchase I knew nothing of this plant but knew I liked artemesias. I have since done a bit of research on 'Sea Foam'. The research says Sea Foam artemesia is a small artemesia which will NOT do well in high humidity areas. I thought mine would be doomed at some point in the future. Then wonders of wonders, Frances posted a picture of hers! I was so happy to see it growing somewhere else here in Tennessee. She told me it does well in her garden. What a relief.

This plant is great for xeriscaping and this was my view when I bought it. I thought that with its wiry feel it would be rather drought tolerant and do well. So far it has done well planted in my driveway garden under an oak tree facing the setting sun. I have never watered it and it is not languishing from either the lack of water or the tremendous amount of water (humidity) we have in the air. Good drainage is probably essential for successfully growing this artemesia though. Mine is planted on a slight slope so no drainage problems for it.

This new to me cultivar has been lots of fun. It has put on growth and is doing well. It is even pretty cool and quite a different type of plant that I like it very much....

in the garden....

Dave has asked that we post about our worst weed on his Worst Weed Wednesday. I've already posted about mine in a recent post about poison ivy. You can read it here. Check him out for more worst weed posts. You know we all have them!

Today is my sister Dawn's birthday. Happy Birthday to you and may you have a great one!

31 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday Dawn-have a great day! Ciao -

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  2. My artemesia is dying--it looked fine before the tree came down. One of those plants that will need replacing I guess. I guess it's not hot sun tolerant--what do you think Tina?

    Dawn--Happy Birthday!!! Hope you have a wonderful day! :)

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  3. Happy Birthday, Dawn!

    Tina, that artemisia is beautiful! I love the airyness, I think they picked the perfect name for the cultivar!

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  4. Hi Tina, I saw this Artemisia in a catalogue and wondered how it faired in anyone's garden. I have a couple Artemisia, Powis Castle is great, Silver Queen is invasive. I wondered which camp Sea Foam fell in. Sounds like it is a nice plant.

    Happy Birthday Dawn!!

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  5. Anonymous, You have a great day!

    Linda, I am not sure why your artemesia would be dying. Normally it loves the sun and is fine with droughts and should do fine growing in sunny hot Texas. Hmmmm. A puzzle. I suspect maybe it is in shock since its tree is gone? Maybe it just needs some time adjust and bounce back. Give a few weeks and don't over water it thinking it needs water. Just do as you always do and if the soil is really really dry, then give it a drink. You have Powis Castle right? I seem to recall seeing it. Hang in there.

    Lzyjo, I would've bought it just for the name. Love that name too!

    Everyone have a great day! I so enjoyed my break. When my co-posters post it is such a good thing for me. I sometimes get burned out so needed this break. So thanks Skeeter, Lola, and Dawn!

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  6. Hi Tina,You and I are in agreement on Powis Castle. It is one of the first plants I put in with Heuchera purple palace...I love the contrast!
    The artemesia has done very well. The heuchera had to be moved and is looking much happier.
    Thanks for the post.

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  7. Hi Janet, Sea Foam is wonderful! It is similar in stature to Silver Mound but not so soft and full. It is more wiry and stiff. It has not self seeded anywhere so I am thinking Powis Castle. Though you know, that Powis Castle will take over if you don't trim it back. Sea Foam should do well in your beautiful garden. It needs to be at the front of the border so it can be enjoyed. I have not cut mine back, a good thing. ttyl

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  8. Totally new for me, very interesting and pretty colour.

    Tyra

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  9. Good morning Kathy! I hope you are doing fine. Can you believe the fall term is almost here? Urgh! Powis Castle is a fine plant. I can see it with Palace Purple. What a super good combination!

    Hi Tyra, It is a neat plant indeed. Do you have the artemesias in Sweden?

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  10. First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to DAWN! :-)

    Tina,

    I don't have artemesia due to past poor performance (humidity) in my garden at another house. Lavender works better for me than artemesia! That said, I love silver/grey foliage with purple and pink... hey, and maybe black flowers, too! :-)

    Cameron

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  11. Thanks everyone!
    I love this silver stuff, you can see it alot up here.
    Have a nice day all!

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  12. I have some cultivar of artemesia I can NOT get rid of... I guess I don't like it so well. ;) Today is my niece Sam's birthday!

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  13. Looks like a plant I'd like to try. Unusual and a nice color to compliment almost any other shade. Thanks for the tip. We have some pretty bad humidity here too but probably not worse than yours. It would be worth experimenting with.
    Marnie

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  14. Happy Birthday, Dawn.
    That is a dandy gray mini you have there, Tina.
    Donna

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  15. Have the Happiest Birthday ever, Dawn.
    That is a very cute plant. It would lighten up an area.
    I must check to see if it would grow here. I doubt it as we have such high humidity. But on the flip side I do have plants from other places that are not supposed to live here but they do.
    Have a great one all.

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  16. Happy Birthday Dawn! And Thanks for sending me some rain today! :-)

    This is a neat plant but doubt it would fair in our high humidity of the Deep South. It would look great in my little Beach Themed Garden Planter though. :-) The Banana tree is doing great and popping up babies for the first time ever! Yippee…

    Any time you need a break, just let us know and I, for one will be glad to jump in to rescue you :-)

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  17. Happy Birthday to my second born daughter!!!!!! Just think, now you are the same age as Tina for 12 days and then she will once again go ahead of you.

    Tina that is a very pretty plant and it does look a little like sea foam but you spoiled my vision of it by saying it is not soft like sea foam. I used to have some Artemesia but it is long gone so I should think about getting more.

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  18. Hi Tina, and a big happy birthday to Dawn! The seafoam is doing so well here that I ordered two more last year. All three plants are thriving on a sunny slope cascading over a rock wall. We are quite humid, as you know, but it has not affected the seafoams at all. It might be time to see if they will root from cuttings this fall, for the hardiness is not in question anymore. So glad you found some too.
    Frances

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  19. Tina, what a perfect name for that plant. I first thought that was an underwater shot. You choose such unusual plants. I enjoy how much I learn every visit. I’m cooling down after running around in the heat and humidity all day.

    I’d also go with poison ivy as worst weed.

    Happy Birthday, Dawn!

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  20. Happy Birthday Dawn!
    That is a neat artmesia, I've only seen Powis Castle. I like how that color of foliage shows off the flowers around them.

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  21. I don't have any artemisia in my garden, but maybe I should. And you won't find any worst weeds here, I don't like to give them any attention. They'll just get a swelled head and keep growing stronger! LOL

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  22. Here's attempt two at a comment, the thunderstorm must have ate attempt number one!

    I'm a big fan of artemisia and that seafoam looks like it would blend well with sedums like Dragon's blood. A good burgundy silver combo! I took three more cuttings of my Powis Castle this morning.

    Happy Birthday Dawn! July Birthdays are the best!

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  23. Beckie of Dragonfly Corner has some artemesia in her garden that I have been admiring all year. One more plant to add to the wish list...

    Hmmm, a worst weed? I will have to check out Dave's post.

    Happy Birthday, Dawn!

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  24. Cameron, Lavender rocks!

    Dawn, Hope it was a great one!

    Monica, Happy early birthday to Sam!

    Marnie, You should be able to find it up north. I've not seen it here though:(

    Donna, Thanks!

    Lola, plants are most amazing at their adaptability-just like us.

    Skeeter, I'm holding out until the 2 year anniversary then we'll see. Thanks! I may need the break I've been busy.

    Mom, Oh yes, not soft at all. You'd think it would be. Oh well. Yup, Dawn and I are the same age for a bit. Glad you did not say the age!:)

    Frances, I was so relieved to see you had it let me tell you. I hope you get rain soon! Lots here heading your way.

    Sarah, stay cool up there. I am for some reason drawn to different plants. Many gardeners are as they want to be different. Hey! Perfect subject for a post:)

    Catherine, Powis a super good one! My favorite. Silvermound is pretty good too. You should be seeing silvermound soon. It will tolerate your heat in the rainy-um-not so rainy northwest:)

    Dave, Hate it when that happens. I hope you don't mind me combining the two. I already did the weed post and scheduled this post a while ago. Your meme is catching on and I do like reading all the other posts. It is neat how we all have different weeds.

    Rose, I just knew someone would go with poison ivy as a worst weed. I am STILL pulling it out and saw it in my neighbor's yard growing in the crack of her sidewalk of all things. It is a bad bad thing this year. You are going to have a mighty big wish list. I like it on your sidebar.

    You all have a great evening! Tomorrow is a garden day for me-first day this week! Can you tell I am suffering? The ground is heaven, moist and warm and perfect for planting, and okay, weeding too.
    Thanks everyone for stopping by.

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  25. Tina, it sounds like a lot of the worries about a plant not doing well in a humid climate come down to giving the plant a spot with great drainage. It's a great looking plant and I'm glad it's doing so well for you.

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  26. Cool post. Happy Birthday Dawn!

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  27. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAWN GIRL !!: )
    Tina I have had a number of artemesia .. I have one now that is paied with Black Lace sambucus and a few other gray/blue combinations .. I can't recall the name right now but it is great .. and we usually suffer from HIGH humidity (I'm not kidding) this year has been the exception for a nice relief.
    They are great plants and I think a wee bit under used for some reason ?

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  28. What a delicate and unusual-looking plant. It reminds me of sea coral.

    I like silver in the garden too. It goes so beautifully with reds and purples.

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  29. I love the looks of this plant, I've never seen it before. Looks both delicate and tough at the same time.

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  30. Happy Belated Birthday Dawn! That is a cool plant Tina, I love the texture & silvery tone. :)

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