Artemisia 'Powis Castle'


Common name(s): Powis Castle artemisia


Description: perennial; a hybrid Artemisia presumed to be the product of a cross between A. arborescens and A. absinthum. Selected by British gardener A. J. Hancock in the late 1960s and then introduced in 1972 by the National Trust's Powis Castle in Wales where it was used to line the walls and terraces surrounding the castle. Forms a tidy, dense mound of aromatic, feathery silver foliage. Remains evergreen in all but the severest of winters in which it will freeze to the rootstock and put on new growth in spring. 


Height: to 2 ft. Spread: to 3 ft.


Position: full sun and well-draining soil


Uses: ornamental


Winter Hardiness: to 0 F and below


Drought: Adapted to 2.5+ months of summer drought

Care: can be relentlessly pruned down to the ground anytime from spring-autumn to refresh form and foliage.