Horticultural selection from Artemisia californica from Montara Mountain south of san Francisco. If you need an unusual groundcover that can tolerate the hot dry summer, try this low, spreading artemisia out. 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. Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden.