Hello Dan,

Thank you for reaching out to us. Can you give me a bit more information so I can investigate what happened — what town is the community garden located in and if you have some photos of the plants, that would help too. Thank you.

Hello Tim,

Without seeing photos of the plant, we cannot definitively identify it but since you said the plant is labeled as mugwort, we will assume that it is Artemisia vulgaris or common wormwood, sometimes called mugwort.

A. vulgaris is native to temperate Europe, Asia, North Africa, and Alaska, and has been naturalized in North America, including Vermont.

This plant has historically been used as a flavoring agent in brewed beverages as well as an aromatic herb. It was known as the "mother of herbs" in the Middle Ages and has been widely used in traditional medicines in many parts of the years for hundreds of years.

Given this information, I suspect it was planted in the demonstration garden as an herbal specimen versus a pollinator plant as Artemisia vulgaris is wind-pollinated.

As you have indicated, this plant is a rapid spreader through its rhizomes. However, in Vermont, it is NOT considered a noxious weed nor does it appear on the Agency of Agriculture’s watch list of invasive plants.

We would consider it to be an “over-enthusiastic” plant and like many of its vigorous perennial counterparts (like mints, Lilies-of-the-valley, woodbine, etc.), it needs to be carefully managed in the garden. It sounds like that did not happen in this case.

We may be able to summon a group of volunteers to assist in the removal of it in the community gardens. Let me know if this is of interest.

Thanks Dan. Yes, please do send along photos. You can email them directly to me at <personal data hidden> if that's more convenient.