I grew Sweet Annie in my garden this year. It grew tall and tree-like, almost as tall as me. The little flowers just started opening, so today I harvested and made the most fragrant ‘lil wreath. Its camphor-like smell has filled my apartment.
Sweet Annie, Artemisia annua, is a hardy annual also known as sweet wormwood or Huang Hua Hao in Chinese Medicine. I did some research and it is similar, though not the same, as Artemisia absinthium, the wormwood used as an ingredient in the notorious liquor. Artemisia annua, however, is known medicinally for the treatment of malaria in China. I decided not to make any medicine with this one, but rather enjoy its scent and soft, fern-like, feathery leaves.
Little Maine note about Sweet Annie: I just went to the Common Ground Fair in Unity, Maine (so wonderful, deserves a post of its own..). There, it is a tradition for women to wear wreaths of Sweet Annie. Not sure when it started or the significance, but they’re just gorgeous. I also read that Sweet Annie is also a deer deterrent. Some farmers have had luck lining their fields, especially way up north where hardly anything keeps the deer from eating the harvest. Sweet Annie loves Maine, and Maine loves Sweet Annie, even in my tiny urban garden.