Re: Artemesia 'Powis Castle'

A topiary 'Powis Castle' does sound interesting.  Agree that it's
best to keep young plants coming on as the older ones develop strange
shapes over time; the woody stems don't leaf out and just die back to
stubs if cut below new growth.  That said, discovered one bit of my
old, old plant that I thought I'd lost still alive today, which made
me quite happy:-)

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
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> From: Dowdeswell <dowdeswell@delphinium.co.nz>
> 
> Here in mid latitude New Zealand  "Powis Castle" grows almost all
year 
> round and can take any frost we are likely to get, which is not
much. The 
> down side is that we need to trim it lightly during the summer to
keep it tidy. 
> Funnily enough I have not seen it trimmed as topiary which is a
shame as 
> it would make a beautiful plant. We once grew them in 12 pint
containers 
> with the topiary idea in mind but then we shifted the nursery to
Wanganui 
> and left the plants behind. I must give it a go again. 
> Generally, for garden purposes we find it best to keep new plants
coming 
> every year from cuttings because although the older plants regrow
well 
> when cut back hard they lose something in form and are quite tatty
looking 
> for a while in early spring.
> I have one growing presently in half to 3/4 shade hard up against
some 
> pine trees which keep it very dry, hard and slow growing and it
still looks 
> great.
> 
> Terry Dowdeswell
> Wanganui
> New Zealand
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> terry@delphinium.co.nz
> http://www.delphinium.co.nz
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> > In a message dated 3/24/02 5:23:46 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
> > jknoble@warwick.net writes:
> > 
> > << Wow!  Claire, you have no difficulty growing this plant all
the way
> > up 
> >  there???  Now I think I'm really going crazy.  Here in Northern
NJ,
> >  I've lost 2 (separate attempts) in a bed that has at least 6
other
> >  Artemesia cultivars that are doing great, >>
> > 
> > 
> > Somewhere along the way this got mixed up - we do grow it and
have for
> > years but it will not live over in the open garden.  I root the
> > cuttings in summer sometime when I think of it and keep those
young
> > plants in a cold frame allwinter.   In the late spring, I put the
> > young plants into the gardens where I think I would like a mass
of
> > grey foliage.  You can get a pretty good sized plant by midsummer
in
> > good soil and enough water.  This plant takes a lot of water
while
> > growing.  Also, here in upstate NY, full sun.
> > 
> > The older plants are potted, grown in large containers and kept
in the
> > cellar all winter mostly dormant.  When they become to large we
start
> > new ones in the pots.  Potted A. Powis Castle is easy to keep
over. 
> > As long as the temp stays low, it is a late starter.
> > 
> > I saw one of these made into a topiary in the Winterrowd/Eck
garden in
> > Vermont.  It was overwintered in cold storage also.  There was a
stem
> > about two inches in diameter.
> > 
> > Sorry, no magic in upstate NY.  The cold frame that keeps these
plants
> > and others like them is nearly half sand.  A great many plants
will
> > make it with that treatment.   After the ground freezes here, we
fill
> > up the frames with leaves and leave them that way until the
middle of
> > April, sometimes later.  One year I had some kind of Hebe, a
no-no in
> > New York and it lived over and bloomed a second year in pure
sand.  
> > 
> > The thing with this keeping overwinter semi-hardy plants is that
it is
> > a lot of work.  We kept a bay tree, Laurus nobilis two winters
> > outdoors by burying the pot in a huge pile of woodchips.  The
plant
> > had grown too large to house indoors and we gave it a try.  
> > 
> > Claire Peplowski
> > NYS z4
> > 
> >
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