[Artemisia] Garden ideas - really long

[Aletheia Isidora of Philae]

S CLEMENGER wrote:
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: LadyPDC at aol.com<mailto:LadyPDC at aol.com> 
>   To: artemisia at lists.gallowglass.org<mailto:artemisia at lists.gallowglass.org> 
>   Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2008 8:01 AM
>   Subject: Re: [Artemisia] Garden ideas
>   Actually, there is an excellent reason for planting marigolds in such  a 
>   garden. They repel mosquitos.  [snip]
>   I've heard that, although it doesn't seem to deter the MT ones much...
>   --Maire

Greetings!
Now that I've finally caught up with my email, here's the list of what I 
have growing in my gardens here in Bronzehelm (Billings MT - zone 3/4/5 
depending whose map you look at) that are documentably medieval (cites 
provided upon request). These are all easy to grow & require very little 
care, for the most part. First the artemisias, then perennials, then 
annuals.

Artemisias: unless otherwise specified, these are fire&forget perennials 
- once planted, the only thing I do to them is cut them back (to the 
ground, usually) in the spring, again whenever I think they're getting 
too hairy, or I want to make something out of them. Most of the 
artemisias are strongly scented, bug repellent, deer hate them - great 
strewing herbs. Most of them are also very drought-tolerant for xeriscaping.

Artemisia dracunculus - tarragon: needs mulch the first couple years 
until well established. Mine is 7 years old now & not at all invasive. 
this is the French cooking herb. (By the way, dracunculus means "little 
dragon" for you House Tarragon fans/adherents/whatnot).

Artemisia vulgaris - mugwort: very tough. Not the prettiest plant, but 
interesting & used a lot in period. Not invasive, but mine is more 
shaded than it ought to be for best results, so ymmv.

Artemisia absinthium - wormwood: cut the blossoms before they set seed & 
you don't have a problem; otherwise seeds all over the place. I tend to 
cut mine back midsummer anyway, to keep it nice & compact. Great 
strewing herb. May be considered noxious weed in some areas, check with 
your county extension agent. Only poisonous in VERY large quantity.

Artemisia abrotanum - southernwood: beautiful feathery foliage & lovely 
scent; few seeds if any, not invasive - my favorite artemisia, really. 
Great for strewing herb blends.

Artemisia annua - Sweet Annie: this is an annual; very nice scent; 
somewhat self-seeding - I have to replant from store-bought seed every 
couple-three years.

Modern &/or North American artemsias available from catalogs & garden 
stores that I really intend to plant one of these days, or have had in 
the past:
Artemisia frigida - fringed sage native to short-grass prairies
Artemisia versicolor Seafoam (Curlicue Sage) - a short (8") sage with 
interesting forms
Artemisia Powis Castle (silver sage) - yard-high non-flowering.
Artemisia albuta Silver King - another large variety
Artemisia schmidtiana silver mound - this one forms cute little balls 
about 10" around, very feathery - I had some a few years back but the 
grass grew over it (not in a proper bed; I need to work on that).
Artemisia ludoviciana silver frost - this might be the relatively flat 
one I had at the same time as the silver mound.

Perennials not artemisias but medieval, with few care requirements, all 
growing in my garden:

Lavender - lovely flowers & scent, lots of uses

Chamomile (Roman) - sweet smelling ground cover; flowers make a soothing tea

Thyme (English cooking) - sometimes needs winter protection to survive here

Yarrow - good for wound poultices; will expand to fill available space 
if not firmly controlled

Feverfew - self seeding (major understatement!); good against migraines; 
pretty flowers

Rue - medieval herb of grace; lovely foliage, bright yellow flowers that 
go to seed big time; interesting scent

Mint: spearmint, peppermint, chocolate mint - control firmly if you 
don't want them to take over, but smell wonderful & great tea

Lemon balm - another good soothing tea; also mint family, but not as 
invasive as others in the family; needs iron in the soil (I have heavy 
clay & have to add iron supplements every spring to keep my lemon balm 
alive)

Flax - linum species; source of linen, linseed oil, & lovely blue or red 
flowers - native to NW US as well as Europe

Hyssop - strongly scented, has lovely blue flower spikes; seeds liberally

Cooking sage - salvia officinalis (not an artemisia!) - also has lovely 
blue flower spikes, but doesn't seed as copiously as my other self-seeders

Winter savory - good for cooking; has very tiny pale lavender flowers; 
smells wonderful

Violets - short, edible, my favorite scent

Oregano - both Greek & the other one; good for cooking, tea, flowers

Annuals: also medieval; some self-seeding

Basil - cooking! NOT a self-seeder

Calendula - pot marigold - this is the medieval European marigold, not 
the taygetes which didn't reach Europe until very late (Gerard refers to 
it as a new plant in his 1595 Herbal)

Chervil - one of the French fines herbes for cooking; self-seeding but 
not extravagantly so

Coriander - technically a perennial, but not in my climate! Before it 
flowers, it's cilantro for Mexican cooking; the seeds are the coriander

Fennel - another technically perennial but not this far North. Grown for 
its edible seeds

So there you have it. I am growing or have grown everything on this 
list, successfully, in Billings - although this is the banana belt of 
Montana (it was only 20 below here last week, not -40F). Some of you may 
have seen my display at our Arts & Sciences events the last year or so - 
with pictures, herbarium, & scent boxes. I have also grown rosemary & 
bay, as potted plants, but I have trouble keeping them over the winter - 
won't grow outside & I kill them inside, somehow. Others may have better 
luck. Some of my references include Hildegard of Bingen's Physica, the 
Lacnunga Anglo-Saxon herbal, & John Gerard, covering about 800AD to the 
late 1500s. I'm always happy to answer garden questions about my flowers 
& herbs (I also grow roses, but somebody said they wanted stuff that was 
EASY to grow). Keep in mind I'm not really an expert anything, I just 
love to garden.

Aletheia Isidora of Philae
PS Shauna, note forename spelling please. :) Thanks for the endorsement!