If you need an unusual groundcover that can tolerate hot, dry summers, try this low-growing Artemisia. This lovely groundcover sagebrush has a neat, dense form with aromatic, gray-green foliage. It’s a great way to add texture, color contrast, and fragrance to a drought-tolerant garden.
Despite its North Coast origins, we have found ‘Montara’ to thrive in hot inland conditions with almost no supplemental water. Some speculate that it may be a natural hybrid between Artemisia californica and Artemisia pycnocephala.
‘Montara’ is quickly becoming a landscaping favorite, but it is not commercially grown by many nurseries, making it difficult to find. It was selected from a cutting on Montara Mountain by Roger Raiche and introduced by Wildwood Nursery in 1987.