For this year’s Mother’s Day the choice is clear… Artemisia pycnocephala ‘David’s Choice’
Artemisia pycnocephala ‘David’s Choice’ (Coastal Sagewort) – A vigorous, dense, low growing evergreen perennial with finely divided soft silver-gray foliage that grows to 1 foot tall by about 3 feet wide. The yellow flowers are on noticeable stems that rise out and away from the plant in the summer. Plant in full (best) to part sun a well-drained soil and while moderately with infrequent to occasional summer watering. Hardy to 0 ° F. Coastal Sagewort does not perform as well in hotter inland gardens where overhead irrigation may rot the dense foliage and the species tends not to be long lived in cultivation and while ‘David’s Choice’ has proven better, it still may not last more than 3 to 4 years in the garden. Remove spent flower stalks that detract from the look. This plant was selected by David Amme in 1980 from plants growing near the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse and was named and introduced to the trade in 1983 by Phil Van Soelen of California Flora Nursery. It received the California Horticultural Society Award of Merit in 1988. The name for the genus likely honors Artemisia II of Caria, a botanist and medical researcher who died in 350 BC but whose name came from the Greek goddess Artemis, whom the Romans called Diana and the specific epithet is a combination of the Latins words ‘pycnos’ meaning “thick” or “dense” and ‘cephala’ meaning “head”, likely in reference to the flower clusters.
Starting a herb&veggie journey around the world 🙂
+ Brazilian Spinach
+ Japanese parsley (mitsuba)
+ Mitsuba, a Japanese edible grown for so many reasons
+ Sweet Pepper ‘Russian Healthy’
+ Takara Shisito Pepper
+ Wild Jules… food for squirrels 🙁