General Culture:

Best grown in poor to moderately fertile, dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun. Excellent soil drainage is essential for growing this plant well. Does poorly in moist to wet soils where plants are susceptible to root rot. Plant stems tend to lodge(fall) in summer, especially if grown in fertile soils and/or part shade. General foliage decline commonly occurs in high humidity summer climates such as the St. Louis area. If foliage declines or stems flop in summer, plants may be sheared to revitalize. 'Cragg-Barber Eye' is reported to be less aggressive than the species.

Noteworthy Characteristics:

'Cragg-Barber Eye' is noted for its yellow and green variegated foliage. It is a generally upright cultivar that typically grows in a mounded clump 2-4' tall and as wide, but may spread further in the garden by rhizomes. Finely-dissected, variegated leaves are yellow splashed with green striping. Leaves are aromatic when bruised. The tiny, somewhat inconspicuous, whitish, discoid flower heads (rays absent) which appear in dense panicles at the stem ends in summer have little ornamental value. Species is a green-leaved, somewhat weedy perennial that is native to Europe, but has naturalized as a roadside weed throughout much of the eastern and Midwestern United States including Missouri. The species is commonly called mugwort. Species plants were used in Europe to flavor beer before the use of hops. Species plants also have a long history of folk medicine uses for treatment of a variety of medical impairments including intestinal worms (hence the other common name of wormwood).