Hi buttoni, I have had a Powis Castle artemisia in ground for several years in my hell strip on the west side of my property. It is sprawly and needs to be cut back in the spring but I love it and it has been dependable for me plus it is drought resistant. I’m thinking the smell it emits keeps the wasps at bay. Years ago I did try to propagate in water and was successful. I have it planted close by my Pride of Barbados that is showing off right now.

It's a wonderful easy to grow plant and I love the fragrance. It seems to like somewhat moist soil. I've always grown it in partial shade in my rocky soil. I'm fascinated to learn that it will grow in full sun.

I lost mine in the recent drought, but planted more this year.

How interesting that it's said to repel wasps. You have a very interesting experiment going on.

Actually I value paper wasps as a predator of garden pests and as a pollinator as well,, but there certainly can be too much of a good thing especially on a porch where people hang out although I've found them to be very non aggressive.

I've read that it's customary in the south to paint porch ceilings blue so paper wasps won't build there. I've never tried it, but people swear it works.

However, I've been a little concerned that I've seen so few paper wasps this year; possibly because of the hard freeze when every thing was thriving, including the paper wasps. The queens hibernate during the winter, but the sudden cold might have caught them out in the open.

Roselee, all your paper wasps must have flown to Gause. We have the dark, blackish ones and the slim yellow and black striped ones as well down there. We think the black ones are getting up underneath and between the metal corrugated roof and the wood roof at the rear/end of the cabin. We see those fly under the roof and then constantly find them dead on the rustic wood floor. I just sweep them out. They aren't really aggressive as they seem to die pretty quick. We never see their actual nests. The yellowish and browner ones are the more visible/aggressive ones building nests all over the front porch roof. One stung Lance last week; one got me last year. He was sitting on the underside of a weed vine leaf I grabbed to pull/remove.

I'm hoping if I can propagate enough Woodworm and place/plant it around the perimeter of the entire cabin (very small building) it will repel them to building/hanging out on the laundry building or way over to the barn/workshop structure. Worth a try at least.

I have heard about the blue porch ceiling trick. They did that on the Victorian porches on homes down in Galveston. Never thought about painting raw wood and beams, but it just might help. I loathe painting up on ladders though and not sure we can get rid of them long enough to paint it anyway. Will run that by my husband and see if he thinks it's doable.

June, I appreciate the pruning tip and am heartened to hear it is drought tolerant. We only go down the to cabin every 2-3 weeks......... so unless Mother Nature waters it between, that's a long stretch in TX summers.

June, do you remember if you propagated hardwood cutrings or did you cut off semi-hard cuttings? I watched a video today that said cut mid-stem (semi-hard) but they were rooting direct in dirt with rooting hormone.

OK, that's what the video I watched said to do. Will give it a go when I get back down to the cabin and can snatch a piece of a branch.

I have grown Powis castle in the ground on a clay based soil and it was fairly drought tolerant. I let it sprawl and buried some of the low lying branches and encouraged them to grow roots. Then when I needed to trim it back, I had more plants to dig out.

I also like Artemesia "Valery finis". It is VERY white and tough as nails. It grows more by stolons than the Powis castle but I find it fairly easy to control. If you want any get back to me when it cools down a little.

I did not know that about it repelling wasps. We live in the woods & have had a major problem with wasp nests on our house, RV, in an air conditioner & fireplace. I have grown many varieties of artemesia but not for that reason. I recently lost a Powis Castle to poor drainage in a pot. Other then poor drainage they are very easy to grow in my mostly sandy soil. Now I plan to plant them everywhere, Thanks Buttoni !!!

I very much like the taller growth habit of the Artemisia valeri finnis, Mara. I just may private msg you his fall if this plant continues to "perform" this duty. I will continue attempts to propagate some off my plant as well.

Here is my Artemisia 'valeri finnis' from Mara as it billows over the front curb. As she says it's VERY white and tough as nails. It thrives on very little irrigation.

In a bed that is watered it may become, as Bossy terms it; too enthusiastic ...

Closer view ...

...

Here is it more recently planted in the front yard. Both of these spots get strong afternoon sun and heat from the street and drive way ...

I took this photo at the SABG several years ago. It's growing more upright in full sun. Not sure if it is 'valeri' but it could be. I loved the way a salvia is growing through it and meant to try this combo sometime ...

Hmmm, I may try planting it with the full sun Mexican oregano in the back yard.

Ragna, that one could be A. ludovician "Silver King". They look a lot alike. There are other very very silver artemisias like Artemesia ludoviciana 'silver King' and 'silver queen'. My friend in OKC who has a xeric garden has had very good luck with both of them. I think Silver King has some height to it where as the 'Silver Queen' is more of a low statement. I stuck a plant of 'Silver King out in the wild with NO encouragement and it is slow to catch on but alive.

About "Silver King" ...

St. Louis is not Texas when it comes to humidity . I think our heat will mitigate some of the stated humidity problems. I have not seen it in the little plant that I have wich is growing in lean gravelly caliche. I think it will like amended soil a tad better.

I think a garden with many types of artemisia would be very interesting, Many different textures and grades of silver and grey. I have not had luck with some of those very small and frilly ones. They are PICKY. Silver mound artemisia and Artemesia schmidtiana. I have killed the Scmidtiana more than once. Seafood artemisia tempts me too, but I am wary. These guys don't like our hot sticky nights. I have seen them growing in New Mexico nicely . I have seen them in nurseries here but not in anyone's garden. That always makes me suspicious. Has anyone , out there in hollering distance had luck with these guys?

Oops, I guess I should have researched further back when I was suckered into the A. shmidtiana. It is hardy from Z3-7 so it does not like our heat most likely.

Well you ladies have given me quite an education on this family of plants I'm just getting familiar with. I love them. I do love the variable leaves of the different members, Mara. And thank you for sharing your photos of A. valeri finis, Roselee. Lovely, that one.

Well, while we were down at the cabin yesterday I noted STILL no new wasp nests ANYWHERE on the front porch (either end)! And they've had 10 days to reconstruct. I really think this one plant is keeping them away!

Photo taken today, but after a bit of a rain, so the color looks greener than usual.

I brought it back to Temple to pamper awhile with more frequent water (center leaves dried out a bit last month, so 10 days may be a stretch for water until either more established or planted out in ground direct). Hoping to propagate some new plants with cuttings in water. Will be interesting to see if the wasps return to building in their preferred porch overhang spot in a 2-wk absence of the plant. I feel certain they will, as we still saw wasps around other areas of the cabin.

My Artemesia has grown so much and is looking so much healthier since I brought it to Temple to coddle awhile with regular watering. I've ordered 3 more and will be planting all 4 direct into the ground at the four corners of our cabin. It really does seem to have caused the wasps to vacate their "construction projects" somewhere else besides our cabin front porch. No wasp nests, not one, when we went down on the 27th. :) I sure hope it repels mosquitoes and flies, too. Time will tell. I'll let you know how it works for skeeters and flies soon. :)

We drove down to the cabin today and I took my first-purchased Artemesia back down (after my nursing it with frequent watering up here) We also took the 3 new ones that arrived last week. I potted 2 of the new ones in large "smudge pots" (those black plastic witches' cauldrons they sell at Halloween, holes drilled out for drainage). Those 2 I'm placing at the ends of the front porch where they love to build their nest up under the porch roof. My original plant, which is getting quite large now, was placed on the back porch in the Monrovia pot it's in, as that is a huge pot. I may eventually put that one directly in the ground, not sure. The other new one I planted direct in the ground at the rear corner of the cabin where the black wasps seem to get under the roof. Hopefully they will have fled by next trip down in a couple weeks. FYI there were NO yellow wasp nests on the front porch today! And we haven't had the original test plant down there in 3 weeks! I'm convinced these plants really do repel wasps. The corner with the black wasps will be a real test of these plants as repellers of wasps, because we think the black wasps have built sizeable nests between the cabin wood roof and outer metal roof, because they find ways into the cabin. This type doesn't seem to sting. Fingers crossed this sends them on their merry way forever.