My first step with any weed—meaning: wrong plant, wrong place—is to I.D. it, as I have said before, and try to understand its life cycle, so I have a shot at approaching it in the most effective way, and at the right time of year. (More on how to do that, and a link to weed I.D. tools, is at the bottom of the page.) I know I have my work cut out—and probably won’t do better than reducing them, with complete elimination unlikely.
mugwort (artemisia vulgaris)THE NURSERY INDUSTRY agrees with me on this one: bad news. In the Eastern U.S. and Canada, it’s a major issue, because mugwort’s energetic rhizomes can quickly overtake places where regular cultivation isn’t called for, such as a row of trees or perennials in the field, and the plant can reach 4 to 6 feet tall each season, swamping the desired crop.
Easy to confuse when it first emerges with chrysanthemum, with other Artemisia, and even maybe with ragweed, Ambrosia artemisifolia, one way to tell you’ve got mugwort is its leaves, which are bright green on top, but silvery on their undersides. There’s another foliar clue, which is that the lower ones (just above) are less finely cut than the ones at the top of the plant (as in all the other photos). Again, whether top or bottom leaves, they’ll be green on the upper surface and silver underneath.Despite its use in moxibustion (when an acupuncturist applies heat from the burning leaves to a point on the body), in Ayurvedic medicine, and even (sparingly) to flavor Read more on awaytogarden.com