Rosemary
Rosemary is towards the top of my list of favorite herb plants for the home garden. It’s right up there with Bay Laurel, basil, and thymes.
This easy to maintain herb has much to offer the home gardener regardless of the type or size of your garden.
Rosemary, the Adaptable Herb Plant
Rosemary will make itself right at home anywhere from the vegetable garden to the herb bed, and can even be incorporated within flower gardens and ornamental landscapes.
Rosemary can also be grown in containers and hanging baskets making it a great plant for the patio or deck. It is a perennial, but not very hardy, so if your garden in a cold weather climate you will need to treat it as an annual or bring it indoors over the winter.
This popular herb plant is unique in that its form and leaves resemble that of a pine tree or an evergreen shrub. Rosemary leaves are dark green and shaped like small pine needles. They give off a very distinct and aromatic fragrance when crushed or rubbed between the fingers.
As an extra bonus this herb plant will produce showy blue, white, or pink flowers that cover the plant during part of the summer growing season. The flowers are edible and can be used right along with the leaves in your favorite recipes or as a garnish.
Growing Rosemary in the Garden or Containers
To grow your own Rosemary it’s easiest to purchase a young plant from a local nursery or garden center. The plants are usually multiplied by taking cuttings by layering the branches of an established plant.
Rosemary does not require any special care, especially when planted in the ground within a garden. This herb is relatively drought hardy and isn’t fussy about soil type or its fertilization requirements.
The upright rosemary plants are better suited to planting in the open garden and will produce a larger quantity of the herb for culinary use. The trailing varieties are very ornamental and great for growing in hanging baskets or containers.
The only difficult aspect of growing Rosemary is encountered by those growers in cold climates that attempt to over winter or grow the plants indoors. The plant can tolerate a moderate amount of cold weather but is temperamental when grown indoors.
They require good light when grown inside and containerized plants should be allowed to dry out slightly between watering.
Rosemary Varieties
Like basils and thymes, rosemary is offered in a wide assortment of strains and varieties. Some display an upright growth habit, capable of growing over four feet tall, while others are trailing and spread their branches closer to the ground.
Popular varieties of Rosemary include the following:
- Pink
Majorca (trailing) - Arp Rosemary (upright)
- Tuscan Blue (upright)
Salem (upright) - Creeping Rosemary (trailing)
Santa Barbara (semi-upright) - White Rosemary (upright)
-
Spice Islands (upright) - Blue Boy (dwarf/trailing)
- Miss Jessup (upright)
- Huntington Carpet (trailing)
- Collingwood (semi-upright)
Uses for Rosemary Plants
Of course rosemary is best known for its culinary uses where it is a common ingredient in a variety of dishes and recipes. For fresh use simply harvest sprigs of the herb from the plants as needed. You can also dry the herb to preserve it for future use.
Rosemary is a popular component of herbal vinegars and infused oils where the herb will impart its aroma, flavor, and a tinge of color to your favorite oils or vinegars.
Another place where Rosemary is popular is in the cosmetic industry. You can find the herb included in many hair care products, soaps, lotions, oils, and even toothpaste. Rosemary also exhibits medicinal properties and is used for ointments, teas, and essential oils.
Then there are the other ornamental uses for the gardener and landscaper. Because of the ease with which the plant can be pruned and trained, Rosemary makes a great herbal bonsai plant or topiary.
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July 21st, 2007 at 11:04 am
Your article about rosemary caught my attention. As a gift in DEC 2006, we received a large size rosemary plant. Its in a large sized part and grew well for the first several months, along with some strawberries, spearmint and a pumpkin seed that has now grown large. About a month ago the rosemary started to turn brown. Now, it looks dead, yet everything else is thriving. Is there anything we can do to revive the rosemary? The big pot is in the shade at all times. Any thoughts? Thanks!
July 22nd, 2007 at 9:01 am
If your rosemary plant has turned brown and looks dead there probably isn’t much that be done to revive it. Rosemary is usually pretty easy to grow even in containers, but I did have trouble with one of the large Christmas tree shaped plants that was purchased from a garden center. Take your plant and pop it out of the container to check the root system. The problem could be that the rosemary is severely root bound. In which case a little root pruning and a larger container would have been in order. If that isn’t the issue the rosemary plant may have suffered from improper watering… Rosemary should be allowed to dry out slightly between waterings.
July 24th, 2007 at 9:07 am
I was definitely sad to say farewell to my rosemary plant at the end of the season last year — I’d love to grow one in the house, but I just don’t have the right kind of light for it, I don’t think. But rosemary is a wonderful plant — I love how it looks, and definitely love how it smells and tastes!
July 24th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Thanks for the tips!
October 18th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Hi Kenny. I really enjoyed using your books this year when I built some raised beds. I have a couple fall questions if I might. I live in Pittsburgh, PA and love growing rosemary. I normally do it in pots, but this year I planted a few in my raised beds. They are doing well, as if possible I would like to just leave them in teh garden vs digging them up and moving them inside. Is that possible in our climate? I also grew strawberries this year. I am planning on covering them with straw and bird netting (it gets windy on the top of the hill where I live). When should I do that? I have heard that I should wait till a solid freeze before I cover them, but some people also say to cover them sooner.
Thanks,
Chris
October 18th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Hi Chris, thanks for purchasing my eBook and sharing your comments about it. I’m afraid that Rosemary isn’t very reliable when it comes to surviving the winter outdoors in PA and I haven’t had much success over-wintering them. They are even temperamental when brought inside as they are not too happy about living inside the home either. I think you should hold off on covering the strawberries, here’s a Penn State link on mulching them for winter protection: http://solutions.psu.edu/Agriculture_846.htm. Good luck!
December 25th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
When should rosemary be fed, if at all?
What is the best food and time of feeding for rosemary?
Thanks very much.
Katherine
December 29th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Hi Katherine, I grow my Rosemary more as an annual and don’t get too fussy over fertilizing it. If you’d like I’m sure it would appreciate side-dressing with compost or worm castings. Or you could apply a dose of a liquid organic fertilizer once a month or so, especially if the plant in grown in a container.
September 16th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
I just bought a rosemary plant about 2 weeks ago and now some part of it started to turned brown. I water it every morning. Is there anything I can do to revive it?
October 15th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Hi um I would like to know what is the difference between a rosemary and cinnamon plant?