“Attractive Weed?”, a copyrighted post, was written for my WordPress blog called Always Growing by Jan in Covington, Louisiana
I have often written about how many new weeds have shown up in the garden since Hurricane Katrina blew through. Many gardeners here have said the same thing. Well, last year a new plant volunteered in the garden. It was green with delicate, cut leaves. I let it grow, trying to figure out what it was. It looked like it could be some sort of wild artemisia. It continued to grow slowly and the fine textured foliage made a nice contrast to the daylilies around it.
This spring, it returned, a little bigger, so I decided to move it since I didn’t want it crowding out the daylilies. I moved it to a shadier location in an area I was redoing that had few plants and so there was space for it. It thrived. I continued to try and find out what it was but no luck. Now it has started to bloom.
The flowers are tiny and almost look like little tufts. This is probably some terrible weed that I should immediately remove, but curiosity is winning out. I am thinking about trimming off the flowers before they go to seed just in case this is some noxious weed that no one in her right mind would have in a garden. Here is a picture that shows the foliage.
The leaves are very finely cut, but as it grows the ones on the top change slightly and are not as lobed. I have looked all over the Internet and in my garden books, but can’t find any info on any weed or wildflower that looks like this. Any ideas? Anyone?
Always Growing 
nancybond said,
September 28, 2008 at 7:36 pm
It’s not like anything I’ve seen locally, but it’s rather pretty…delicate, even. 🙂
deb said,
September 28, 2008 at 7:42 pm
No clue, but I have seen it around here too.
Racquel said,
September 28, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Never seen anything like it. It is pretty with the lacy fern like foliage and delicate blossoms.
Jan said,
September 29, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Nancy, that is why I kept it. The foliage is too pretty for it to be a common weed.
Deb, I have not seen this anywhere but in my garden. Maybe everybody else knows it is definitely a weed and pulled it out. (lol)
Racquel, it really is an attractive plant. I can’t help but think it is some type of artemisia. Maybe one day I will find out.
Robin said,
September 30, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I certainly don’t recognize it, but I can see why you kept it. Lovely foliage. And in the shade, too! Have you taken a sample to a local nursery to find out more about it?
Jan said,
September 30, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Robin, I hadn’t thought of doing that, but now that it is in bloom, I just may take it to a nursery and see if they can tell me what it is. Thanks for the idea.
Jan said,
October 11, 2008 at 10:55 am
I think I found out what this plant is – artemisia vulgaris, commonly called mugwort. Artemisia “Limelight” is a cultivar of this. I thought it looked like an artemisia and to think that I have some Limelight in another area of the garden and never made the connection. This is considered a native plant (or weed according to some).