Artemisia ludoviciana, also known as white sage, is a native plant of North America, including Canada and Mexico. It has aromatic, lance-shaped, white, woolly leaves on greenish-white stems and grows in spreading clumps up to 2-3' tall. During summer, it produces dense panicles of yellowish-gray discoid flower heads. The plant is named after Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon, wild animals, and hunting.
It requires well-drained, dry to medium-moisture soil with poor to moderate fertility for the best growth. It does poorly in moist to wet soils and may flop in summer if grown in fertile soil and part shade. It may spread aggressively in the garden through rhizomes and self-seeding, but you can control this by removing flower heads and using soil barriers. You can propagate it by division in late summer to early autumn.
The SILVER KING variety may spread aggressively in the garden but appears more restrained than the species. Consider using soil barriers if growing it in borders close to other valuable perennials.
