Variegated Mugwort, Live Plant

Variegated Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris, variegated form). Live potted plant. Family: Asteraceae

Mugwort is the herb Anglo-Saxon healers called the eldest of worts, first of the nine herbs in the tenth-century Nine Herbs Charm. It has hung over doorways on St John’s Eve, gone into dream pillows, and been burned as a smoke herb across Europe and East Asia for centuries. This form carries the same deeply cut, silver-backed leaves, splashed and streaked with cream and pale gold, so it earns a place in an ornamental border as much as in a witch’s garden or a ritual bed.

It is a hardy, easy perennial that spreads by underground runners. We grow and send it in pots, and we’d suggest you keep it in one too unless you want a mugwort patch for life.

Grown by our own hands. Every plant in this listing is grown by the Sacred Herbology team. Frater Leo Viridis raises each one himself, from the mother plant and the cutting through rooting and potting to the day it leaves for the post. He feeds them well, and he tends them the way an esoterist tends anything given to the Work, with attention to the planetary hour, the Moon and the intention behind each cutting. That care goes into the pot with the plant.

What you receive: one nursery-grown variegated mugwort in a pot, with this care guide. Variegation can vary a little from plant to plant.

Sold for growing, the garden and ritual use only. This plant is not sold for eating, drinking, tea or extraction, and nothing on this page suggests you take it internally.

Growing guide

Position

Full sun to part shade. The cream variegation holds best with morning sun and some protection from hot afternoon sun in the tropics and subtropics. In the tropics a spot with afternoon shade and good airflow through the wet season suits it well.

Soil and pots

Any free-draining garden soil or a good quality potting mix. Mugwort is not fussy and does better a little hungry than overfed, which also keeps the variegation sharp. A 25 to 30 cm pot keeps the runners in check.

Watering

Water regularly while it settles in, then let the top few centimetres dry between drinks. It handles dry spells well once established. Wet feet in a humid summer is the one thing that sets it back.

Keeping the variegation

Variegated plants sometimes throw an all-green shoot. Cut any plain green stem back to its base as soon as you see it, or the stronger green growth will slowly take over the pot.

Pruning and harvest for ritual use

Cut stems back by a third in late spring to keep the plant bushy, and cut it hard in late winter. Stems cut for bundles, wreaths or dream pillows dry well hung upside down in a dry, shaded place.

Propagation

Divide established clumps in late winter or early spring, or take soft tip cuttings in spring. Both take readily.

Care notes

Mugwort pollen is a known hay fever trigger for some people, and the plant can cause skin reactions in people sensitive to the daisy family. Keep it out of reach of pets and small children who chew plants.

Read more in our Journal: Mugwort, the eldest of worts.