AKA Great Basin Sagebrush, Mountain Sagebrush

Botanical Name: Artemisia tridentata

SHRUB LAYER

Cold hardiness zones: 4 – 9 (it can withstand cold down to -30° F, or -34° C)
Preferred Soil PH: 6.6 to 8.8 (neutral to alkaline soil)
Watering needs: Medium (quite low once established). 10 – 18 inches precipitation per year is sufficient once established.¹
Blooming Season: late summer to early fall.
Harvest season: As an evergreen, sagebrush leaves can be harvested all year, but the freshest leaves are harvested before summer heat hits. Flowers are harvested in late summer into fall.
Age to begin harvesting leaves/flowers: 5 – 10 years.²
Pollination for seed: Wind-pollinated,³ Only one plant is needed for seed.⁴
Size at maturity: 1.5 – 15 feet tall, 3 – 10 feet wide (.5 – 4.5 by 1 – 3 meters)
Sun needs: Full sun (at least 6 hours a day)
Preferred habitat: Open desert mountain prairie, alongside rabbitbrush and juniper. Native to western United States and Canada.
Growth rate (vigor): Slow
Natural reproductive rate (and methods): Medium, mainly by seed.⁵
Propagation method: Seed. Also some by cuttings in fall and winter.
Average life span: 50 – 100 years
Plant family: Asteraceae (Lettuce, daisy, and sunflower family)

Notes:

Big sagebrush is a climax species in the desert mountain prairies of the American west. When given the right soil conditions and climate, with the help of the proper soil mycorrhizae, it can have a nitrogen fixing effect, which means it takes nitrogen out of the air and puts it in the ground for use by itself and other neighboring plants, providing a subtle natural fertilizer.⁶ They also sequester phosphorus and potassium, further increasing soil carbon storage and fertilizer for companion plants.⁷

Though big sagebrush leaves can be cooked and eaten (sometimes boiled and used as tea), it is extremely bitter, and is more often used in herbal medicine to treat various ailments, such as cold, flu, pneumonia, bronchitis, rheumatism, as well as problems with the throat and digestive system. A poultice of the leaves is sometimes put on cuts and sores, or used as an antiseptic wash. Leaves or branches are sometimes burned indoors to disinfect a room.⁸ Even without cooking, it’s pungent scent can be used as a strong potpourri, odor cover, foot deodorant, or room freshener. It’s camphoraceous smell makes it a nice Christmas scent, as well.⁹

We are a garden shop, and not trained in herbal medicines—nor do we have much experience with this field ourselves. Therefore, if you are intending to use big sagebrush internally or medicinally, please research thoroughly or get in touch with a trusted professional in order to learn methods, dosages, etc. We also recommend that you consult your primary care physician before using any plant medicinally. As far as precedent for its use, sagebrush is one of the more widely known and widely used herbal species among native American tribes.

Big sagebrush also has several craft uses. It’s natural bonsai shape provides the structure for small tree structures that can range from a few feet tall to less than an inch tall, each maintaining a quintessential ancient-tree look. Thus it’s use in miniature landscapes, fairy gardens, model train sets, and wargaming terrain is well known and widely used. Taking such a branch or stick and gluing on dyed moss (forest moss, Spanish moss, or other clumping mosses) makes an instant, adorable, everlasting tiny tree.

How to Grow Big Sagebrush from Seed

Intro

All seeds bought were taken from the plant within the last 12 months.

Big sagebrush has very small seeds, about 1 mm wide. In order to be able to sell them affordably (as sorting the seed from the chaff would be extremely time consuming, and require a great deal more work, requiring a higher price for the seeds), we’ve left some of the natural chaff in the seed packaging. The larger and smaller chaff has been sifted out, leaving only the seed-sized chaff behind. By our counts, there should be well over 50 seeds per package, but possibly less than 100 (85 or so is probably average, depending on the batch, though over 100 is certainly possible). The seeds can be differentiated from the chaff (if you find the separation necessary—we usually simply plant the chaff and seed together) by noticing the slightly grayish color, and elongated teardrop shape of the seeds. The ratio of chaff to seed in your packaging is probably about 90% chaff, 10% seed.

It is recommended that you keep your seeds in a refrigerator or protected outdoor location until early spring if you purchase in fall or winter. Our in-store seeds are stored this way in order to provide the seed’s natural cold-stratification. If you ordered your seeds between early autumn and early winter, you’ll want to keep them cold stored like this to provide that cold-stratification. If you ordered your seeds at any other time of year (spring or summer), they have already had this stratification, and can be planted as soon as conditions are sufficiently moderate (not too cold, not too hot). Planting in mid-summer is not recommended, since heat can scorch brand-new seedlings. Once they’ve had a couple months to put on some mass, they should survive hot or cold weather. Ideal planting season is early spring, so long as they’ve been kept in the cold.

Once the seeds are ready to plant…

Place your seeds directly on the surface of sandy soil (see soil ph, etc, on reverse side), and press the seeds hard into the soil (but not too deep). Keep the ground moist until they germinate, which can often take a month, though earlier is also possible.¹⁰

Don’t expect all of the seeds to grow. In fact, the germination rate for perennial woody plants is usually quite low,¹¹ but don’t get discouraged, there should be enough plants (if given the right climate) germinating to provide several big sagebrush plants.

If you want to learn more about seeding big sagebrush, the Rocky Mountain Research Station has a detailed article about seeding this species at https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_journals/2015/rmrs_2015_meyer_s003.pdf. This article is mostly speaking to those wanting to seed sagebrush over a non-irrigated landscape of many acres, so some of the information won’t apply to backyard gardeners who will be actively watering their seedlings, but the article still contains a lot of good information.

Happy seeding!

1https://depts.washington.edu/propplnt/Plants/Artemisia%20tridentata%20data%20sheet.htm

2 https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/arttriv/all.html

3 http://www.sagegrouseinitiative.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/SGI_Sagebrush_PocketGuide_Nov12.pdf

4 https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.587.2467&rep=rep1&type=pdf

5 https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/idpmcpg6294.pdf

6 https://www.nps.gov/arch/learn/nature/asteraceae_artemisia_tridentata.htm

7 https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/arttriv/all.html

8 https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Artemisia+tridentata

9 https://www.mtpr.org/arts-culture/2017-05-01/the-story-behind-sagebrush-an-icon-of-the-west

10https://strictlymedicinalseeds.com/product/sagebrush-common-artemisia-tridentata-packet-of-100-seeds/

11 https://npn.rngr.net/renderNPNProtocolDetails?selectedProtocolIds=asteraceae-artemisia-21