This and that, mid-September 2024
While the second half of September will be all about a major project in the backyard (more on that in an upcoming post), the first half was mostly this and that. Let’s face it, so much of gardening is exactly that: a string of odds and ends. That suits me very well because I’m a putterer at heart. ⤵ I’ve been trialing Artemisia pedemontana , a low-growing wormwood with bluish-green silvery leaves. I planted it in a cactus bed that doesn’t get much irrigation and fully expected it to croak during the multiple heatwaves we’ve had this summer. But the opposite happened: It has thrived and spread, still remaining just a few inches tall. Its compact size and spreading habit make it the perfect plant to unify heterogeneous planting schemes (which pretty much describes our entire garden). Artemisia pedemontana is hard to find (the UC Davis Arboretum will have some in their upcoming fall plant sales ) so I decided to take some cuttings. Another surprise: The cuttings rooted exceptionally fas