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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 drought tolerant it seems to do best with with infrequent to occasional summer watering and is cold 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.
Artemisia pycnocephala grows along the Pacific Ocean coastline central Oregon south to. Within California it is primarily found growing from Del Norte County to San Luis Obispo County, with isolated populations reported from Los Angeles and San Diego Counties. 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 is from the Latin words 'pycnos' meaning "dense" or "thick" and 'cephalicus' or 'cephala' meaning "head" in reference to the flowers held in a thick cluster. The species is commonly called Beach Wormwood, Sandhill Sage, and Coastal Sagewort.
This 'David's Choice' cultivar 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 and we have grown it since 1991.
This information about Artemisia pycnocephala 'David's Choice' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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