Absinthe wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) - seeds

A 0.2 gram packet, about 2,000 seeds. They are tiny, almost dust-like: sow them from a folded sheet of paper.

Sow in spring on the surface, without covering: germination requires light. Press the seeds onto a fine, sandy substrate and keep moist by misting, at 18 to 20 °C. Emergence takes one to three weeks and produces very small seedlings, to be handled with patience.

Prick out at two true leaves, then plant out 60 cm apart in every direction, in full sun and poor, dry, free-draining soil. It thrives in ground that other perennials refuse, and on the contrary suffers in rich, damp soil, where it flops and rots at the base.

A bushy clump 80 cm to 1.20 m tall, slightly woody at the base, whose silky silver-grey foliage remains the main attraction: it lasts all summer, stands out against the greens of the garden and pairs very well with blue-flowered plants. The flowering, in small dull yellow flower heads in panicles, is not very spectacular but is much visited by insects.

Perfectly hardy, it lives a long time in place. Cut it back by half in spring to stop it becoming bare at the base.

Absinthe the drink was born on both sides of the French-Swiss border, between the Val-de-Travers and Pontarlier, where it made the fortune of entire distilleries before the 1915 ban. The town is an hour's drive from our greenhouse in the Jura, and the species grows wild there on dry ground and embankments. Growing this plant here means growing a local plant.

These seeds are sold as ornamental, aromatic and botanical collector's seeds. The plant is bitter and contains thujone, a molecule whose content in drinks is regulated: we provide no dosage, no preparation method and no expected effect, and we do not offer this plant as an ingredient for consumption.

Thujone is neurotoxic in high doses: do not consume the plant, and keep it out of reach of children and pets.

Why not cover the seeds?
Because they germinate in light. A buried sowing, even a very shallow one, largely fails.

What is the difference from common mugwort?
Common mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) has foliage that is green above and white below, less finely cut, and a much weaker scent. Wormwood is silver on both sides and can be smelled from a distance.

Does it bother neighbouring plants?
Yes, it is known for it. Its roots and foliage release compounds that slow germination and growth around it. Give it some distance, and keep it away from the edges of seedbeds.

Is it invasive?
It fills out into a clump and self-seeds a little, without becoming invasive. Cutting it back each year is enough to keep it in check.

Also worth exploring: wormwood as a live plant, sweet wormwood, and all our seeds from around the world.