Plant in full sun to light shade in a well-draining soil and only an occasional deep watering once established. It is tolerant of a wide variety of cultural conditions including heat, drought, wind, salt air, and is cold hardy to at least 18° F (remains evergreen and no tip damage to 25° F). This is a great large plant for adding a contrasting color to the garden. It is a much bigger plant than the popular Artemisia 'Powis Castle', which we also grow and has larger and whiter leaves with more rounded lobes.

Artemisia arborescens is native to rocky areas along the coasts of Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece. 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. The specific epithet means "woody" or "tree-like" in reference to this plant's larger stature than most other plants in the genus. Large Wormwood, also called Tree Wormwood, Shrubby Wormwood, Shiva and Sheeba (Arabic), has been cultivated for its essential oil that is used in perfumes, soaps, insect repellant and with mint as a medicinal tea that is thought to calm digestive distress, but this practice should only be considered under supervision of a healthcare practitioner. We first got this plant in 1986 from Ray Walsh at his Wildwood Nursery in Upland, California and have grown it since 1988. 

The information about Artemisia arborescens that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.