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 with no tip damage to 25° F). This is a great large silver gray 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. 

Information displayed on this page about Artemisia arborescens is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.