White mugwort
Artemisia lactiflora · Asteraceae
The one artemisia grown for its flowers: tall, dark-stemmed plumes of creamy white in late summer, over deep green, cut leaves.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 2½ ft wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Early August to mid September
- Pets
- Toxic (mild)
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around white mugwort
The planner designed this bed around white mugwort when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why white mugwort stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 White mugwort × 4, cream
- 2 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 3, pink
- 3 Winter heath × 11, white
- 4 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 3, blue
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Golden Alexanders × 3, yellow
- 7 Hardy gladiolus × 3, pink
Why this plant
- The only plumes. The others are open bowls, bells, airy sprays and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only cream. Cream sits between stronger colours and calms them.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to golden Alexanders (2½ ft) and Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 4 plants in 2 groups (3 and 1). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From early August to mid September.
- Closes the season. For its last six weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 4 of the 5 groups (80%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 52% of the visual weight and the right half 48%. Low plants run along 96% of the front edge: silver sage, bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' and winter heath.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 5 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where white mugwort goes in a border
At 5 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
It gives an astilbe-like plume at the back of a sunny border and, unlike its silver cousins, wants moisture. The cream cools down the strong yellows of late summer.
- Late-summer plumes at the back
- A calm partner for hot colours
- Cutting and drying
What to plant with white mugwort
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- New England aster: in flower together for three weeks, from early September; happy in the same moist soil.
- Sneezeweed: in flower together for seven weeks, from early August; happy in the same moist soil.
- Joe Pye weed 'Gateway': in flower together for six weeks, from early August; bold leaves against its medium ones; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about white mugwort
Does white mugwort need sun or shade?
White mugwort grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does white mugwort grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does white mugwort flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early August to mid September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Mid August to mid September |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Mid August to mid September |
| Zone 5 | Early August to mid September |
| Zone 6 | Early August to mid September |
| Zone 7 | Early August to mid September |
| Zone 8 | Early August to mid September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should white mugwort be planted?
24 in (60 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 2½ ft (75 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (150 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many white mugwort plants do I need?
At 24 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 3 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 6 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 10 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used four in two groups.
Is white mugwort poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: mild toxicity to dogs, cats and horses. Can cause vomiting and diarrhoea in pets if eaten.
Is there a pet-safe plant like white mugwort?
These come closest to doing what white mugwort does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Flat-topped aster: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 6 in wider, white, not cream.
- Canadian burnet: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; white, not cream, wants wet soil.
- Garden phlox 'Jeana': the same job in a bed; 12 in shorter, flowers mid July to mid September.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after white mugwort?
White mugwort is over by mid September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Blue wood aster: from mid September to mid October, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Montauk daisy: from mid September to late October, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does white mugwort look like in winter?
White mugwort dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Artemisia
- Beach wormwood 'Silver Brocade' Artemisia stelleriana 'Silver Brocade'
- Silver mound artemisia Artemisia schmidtiana 'Nana'
- Southernwood Artemisia abrotanum
- White sage 'Silver King' Artemisia ludoviciana 'Silver King'
- White sage 'Valerie Finnis' Artemisia ludoviciana 'Valerie Finnis'
- Wormwood 'Powis Castle' Artemisia 'Powis Castle'
In these guides
- Garden plants toxic to cats
- Garden plants toxic to dogs
- Tall perennials and grasses for the back of a border
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 2½ ft (75 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Early August to mid September; feathery plumes; cream, white
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Asteraceae
Checked against VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.