Sweet Annie ( Artemisia annua ) , also know as sweet wormwood , is an annual plant that is a must - have for hobby farmers whogrow flowers . Its long , plume - corresponding flowering branch look beautiful in fresh bouquets and are easily dry to make lush lei substructure and dried flower organisation . Plus , the sweet , fruity perfume of this flora is nothing short of lovely .
How To Grow Sweet Annie
Native to parts of Europe and Asia , this inflict one-year plant life is very comfortable to uprise — in fact , if you do n’t take precautional measures , sweet Annie ’s prolific self - sowing power can make it a act too aggressive for some growers . But if you harvest the efflorescence branch at just the correct time , you ’ll trammel or even extinguish seed dispersion and keep the plant from becoming a pest .
Sweet Annie is easily grown by directly sowing the tiny seed into the garden a week or two before the spring ’s last expected frost . startle with just a few seeds your first year ; the plants acquire quite large — up to 5 ft marvellous with an equal width — and take up quite a bit of garden real estate of the realm .
The seeds easy germinate , sometimes taking a month to ruin through the surface of the soil . you could also set forth seeds indoors undergrow lightsif you ’d like to push up your harvest by a few workweek .
opt a planting web site that experience at least six hours of full Sunday per daytime , more if potential . The soft , fern - same foliage of sweet Annie is a lush silvery - light-green , and the plants see quite beautiful swaying in the breeze . The full , extremely - forked structure of this one-year depend great at the back of a border or along the bound of the vegetable garden .
How To Harvest Sweet Annie
Sweet Annie is ready for harvest just as the first few efflorescence buds start to open . Although the plant do not produce expectant , striking bloom , the sweet , toothsome fragrance of the foliage and flowers more than makes up for it . Each feathery arm is covered with 10 of thousands of small-scale , icteric flowers .
To glean , thin the branches from the plant just as the flower buds start to show a touch of yellow . If you let some of the flowers open , you ’ll please the bees , too , but be certain to cut the drop flowers from the stalk before any seed is drop , unless youwant the plant to self sow .
Once the branch are cut from the industrial plant ( you ’ll call for a sullen pair of loppers or pruning see to remove them — the mature stalk are thick and woody ) , you may use them as a filler in ignore - flower bouquets or marry a few branches together with string or a rubber band for drying . Hang the bunches in a ironical , warm , dark room for two weeks . The flower buds and foliage dries to a medium green and finally ages to a diffused brown .
How To Use Sweet Annie
Once teetotal , sweet Annie offshoot can be used to make wreath bases or satiate out dry out flower arrangement . Use caution when handling the stems , however , because they engender quite a scrap of fine debris when you ’re working with them . This dust can irritate your lung and cause an hypersensitized , hayfever - like reaction in some people . The fool of the fresh - cut stems can also irritate the pelt of some people , so wearing glove to glean is a expert idea .
Sweet Annie is also develop as a medicative herb . Its anti - malarial and anti - cancer properties continue to be study by scientist around the world .
Sweet Annie seeds are available fromJohnny ’s SeedsandSouthern Exposure Seed Exchange .
