If you need an unusual groundcover that can tolerate the hot dry summer  try this low  spreading artemisia. This lovely groundcover sagebrush has a nice neat  dense form with aromatic gray green foliage. It's a great way to add  texture  color contrast and fragrance in a drought-tolerant garden. Despite it's north coast origins we have found 'Montara' to thrive in hot inland conditions with almost no supplmental water. Some speculate that it is a natural hybrid between Artemisia calif. and Artemisia pycnocephala.  This is fast becoming a landscaping favorite  but is not commercially grown in many nurseries and so is hard to find.'Montara' was selected from a cutting at Montara Mountain by Roger Raiche and introduced by Wildwood nursery in 1987.