Thursday, September 25, 2014

My favorite plant this week isn’t growing in my garden...

Months back I toyed with the idea of combining the “my favorite plant” feature with a new one, something along the lines of “what I’m currently lusting after.” Ever since then the fav’s have been battling somthing fierce to see who gets to be written about, so it never happened. But the time is now! See that little plant snuggled up next to the rocks? It has captured my imagination and won’t let go…

What is it? I wondered that myself. A little puff ball skeleton, it was an anomaly in very simple garden I featured last week on the plant lust blog. All alone, it was like it sprung unexpectedly from seed, maybe a gift from a visiting bird.

I thought about posting it here and asking you all what it was, I thought about posting it to the “Plant Idents” group on Facebook. Yet before I could do either of those my plant lust co-hort Megan pinned it to a plant wishlist Pinterest board (we definitely gravitate towards similar plants). Now I know it’s Artemisia versicolor 'Seafoam'

The description from the Plant Select® program says all the right things: "Vigorous, attractive groundcover with lacy, mounding foliage of silvery blue. Good winter presence. Clump forming and non-invasive. Perennial. Xeriscape. Garden loam, clay or sandy soil. USDA zones 4b-8." Really could it be any better? Still the images I find on a Google search give me a little concern, it might be a little weedy for my tastes, especially when it blooms. Have any of you grown it?

All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

31 comments:

  1. It looks like many of the images that come up are not of A. versicolor. I've put it in my garden this year. Anything L. Springer Ogden smuggles back from England in her luggage is fine by me. She says it needs to be cut back by half each spring to keep it looking good.

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    1. That's a great story! (the smuggling). Can I ask where you found it?

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    2. I got it for 50¢ on the clearance rack at the grocery store if you can believe it. Actually, it has a very good seasonal nursery and I often find goodies there.

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  2. And it's hardy too, what a bonus! Love it, such an oddity!

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    1. Indeed, it's nice to fall in love with something that isn't a Zone 9 plant...

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  3. This is a definite plant lust plant for me. I had one for about two years and it hasn't grown much so I added two more this year. They've not done much either so it hasn't quite lived up to expectations yet and I found it needs more water than some artemesias I have grown. Still I'm giving it time because it does look like it could be a pretty nice plant eventually as you show in the photos. I'd go with somewhat disappointed so far but still hopeful.

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    1. Interesting, especially with the word "Vigorous" in the description. Thanks for the report Shirley.

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  4. Ooooo...want want want! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Let me know if you see any for sale around town would you? I'll do the same.

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  5. I love the silvery color and lacy foliage of most Artemisia but I'm not acquainted with this one. My favorite this week isn't flashy but it's a good, solid, drought tolerant performer: http://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2014/09/my-favorite-plant-this-week-salvia-mesa.html

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    1. Non-flashy, solid performers, are very important!

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  6. And you've now just turned it into the hot plant of fall, so everybody will be growing it next year (I'll be looking for it). ;)

    Artemesias are so varied!

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    1. Aren't they!? Oh that I have such power...

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  7. Wow! that is a really cool plant!! thanks for sharing!! I didn't imagine there could be a plant with that shape.

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    1. It's an odd one isn't it? Kind of like a skeleton of another plant.

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  8. Looks like little puffs of smoke! I love it too and will be looking for it next year!

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    1. "Next year"...oh the end of a growing season (wipes a tear from her eye...)

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  9. It was one of the few success stories I had from High Country Gardens. It spills over the rocky edge of a berm in all its foamy splendor and comes back reliably year after year.

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    1. Sounds like High Country Gardens might have cornered the market.

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  10. Hmmm...it is cool, that foamy structure is so unusual. But "vigorous" is often a code word for "aggressive spreader."

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    1. I agree, however the description is careful to say "Clump forming and non-invasive" and since the Plant Select folks aren't actually selling plants but just recommending them (like our Great Plant Picks) they don't really have anything to gain by misleading us.

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  11. Ooooooh...you've done it again, Loree. Want, want, want and it's something I can grow here! Yay! I'll be looking for it next spring. By the way, my Syneilesis just up and disappeared about a month ago. Is that normal, or is it a goner? :-(

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    1. I would say not normal but then after the dry and hot summer we had my plants are looking pretty horrible. I'd hold out hope for it until it doesn't reappear next spring.

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  12. Too cool...love the texture and the color! Well spotted!!!

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  13. Here's my fave: http://bannersbyricki.com/archives/3981. We'll see if it actually shows up on my site. The last post did not. My apologies for using DG as a test case.

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    1. You feel free to use me and dg as a test case anytime!

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  14. LOVE it! And it looks absolutely perfect nestled in to the grass. Wonder if I can find it here...
    My favourite: http://crmbsgrdn.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/my-favourite-plant-in-garden-this-week_27.html

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    1. It certainly seems like a plant that would appear in your part of the world!

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