How to Grow Rosemary

Growing rosemary produces a fragrant tender-perennial evergreen shrub, that can be enjoyed for many seasons in the garden (in growing climates with mild winters). It has a fragrance similar to that of camphor and pine. As a culinary herb, rosemary’s flavor is often used as a complement to lamb, poultry, fish, and many vegetable dishes.

Rosemary symbolizes remembrance and fidelity. It was often included in bridal bouquets, and it was believed that if you tapped your lover with a fresh sprig of rosemary, he/she would stay true.

During the 15th century, rosemary branches were burnt within homes to ward off the black plague. In more modern times (during WWII), rosemary and juniper branches were burnt in French hospitals to limit the spread of infection.

Sleeping with a sprig of rosemary beneath your pillow is supposed to banish nightmares. In Spain, a folk tradition claimed that wearing a sprig of rosemary would offer the wearer protection from “the evil eye.”

Legend has it that rosemary’s flowers were originally white. On her flight to Egypt, the Virgin Mary threw her robe over a bush of rosemary as she rested. The flowers turned blue in her honor.

In the 16th & 17th Centuries, rosemary’s wood was used to make lutes and carpenters rulers. Use the flowers of this herb to repel moths from your closets.

Health Benefits of Rosemary

Rosemary is one of the richer herbal sources of antioxidants. Rosemary is reputed to have the following properties: Anti-microbial, Aromatic, Astringent, Emmenagogue, Nervine, Rubefacient, Stimulant, Parasitic.

Internally, rosemary tea can have a calming effect on digestion and is also used as a remedy for tension or stress. Externally, it is used in oils to help ease muscular pain, sciatica, and neuralgia. It is also included in some popular topical headache remedies.

Some use it as a stimulant to hair follicles for the treatment of premature baldness. It is a popular ingredient in hair tonics and shampoos. Rosemary’s volatile oils have been used in treatments for asthma, as they can reduce airway constriction.

It has been used as a product to aid in the treatment of gout as an external application and has a reputation for improving memory which was recently validated in a study showing that it reduces the risk of strokes and neurodegenerative diseases.

The aroma of rosemary has been reported to soothe the senses and help improve mood and even memory. It is purported to relieve headaches and sinus pressure, cure depression, and improve the function of the circulatory system.

The scent may help cure mild insomnia in some people. Keeping a spring of rosemary or a sachet under the bed pillows is supposed to help ease people to sleep. The scent can help relax the mind and allow one to drift off and according to ancient legend can chance away bad dreams.

For a mood booster during the daylight hours, steep a tablespoon of lightly crushed rosemary in hot water to create a tea. While the woodsy concoction can drink, simply inhaling the steam from the tea and allowing it to penetrate the sinuses can be beneficial.

Rosemary is also a well-known symbol of remembrance. Some societies use it in remembrance of the dead by tossing it onto graves. Include sprigs of the herb is arrangements for funerals, weddings, and other special events.

Try growing rosemary as a companion plant for beans, cabbage, carrots, and sage. Its aroma is believed to help keep beetles, moths, and flies away from these plants!

Rosemary Cultivars and Varieties

• Rosmarinus officinalis is the most commonly grown variant. It makes an upright to rounded, dense evergreen up to 1.5 meters in height. It is equally at home in a shrub border, mixed border, or herb garden.
• Low growing cultivars include Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus’ spread over the soil surface-reaching only about 15cm in height. Although less hardy than their more upright relatives they are ideal for a rock garden or the top of the drywall.
• Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Severn Sea’ has a spreading habit and arching branches.
• The widely grown ‘Miss Jessop’s Upright’ is capable of reaching a height of 2 meters making it an ideal choice for a rosemary hedge.
• Arp Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Arp’) – Said to be one of the most winter-hardy rosemary, ‘Arp’ is often sold as hardy in zone 6 although to be safe gardeners might plant it in a protected area.
• Spice Islands Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Spice Islands’) – Darker blue flowers and more narrow leaves make this rosemary unique.
• White Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Albus’) – As you might expect the ‘Alba’ or ‘Albus’ form of rosemary boasts white flowers instead of blue.
• Majorica Pink Rosemary: (Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Majorica Pink’) – ‘Majorica Pink’ has pink flowers instead of the typical blue rosemary flowers.
• Golden Rain Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Golden Rain’) – This unique plant is variegated rosemary whose dark green leaves have yellow streaks throughout.

Climate & Growing Conditions

Rosemary will grow best in a sheltered, but sunny (to partial sun) location.

When growing rosemary in gardening climates with cold winters (below freezing), keep your rosemary plant as part of your container garden and move it indoors for the winter.

If growing rosemary out-of-doors in a hot climate garden, consider using a mulch around the base of the plant to help it keep the roots cool.

Preparing the Garden Soil

The generic name for rosemary is derived from the Latin ros-marinus which means ‘dew of the sea’. This refers to the plant’s favorite habitat near salty sea spray.

Rosemary is a native of the Mediterranean, where it grows naturally on scrub, thrives in dry soil. Fortunately, rosemary will thrive in any well-drained sandy soil in full sun.

It can, however, be easily damaged by severe frost so it is as well to plant it where it can receive some shelter.

Light, well-drained gardening soils are best for growing rosemary. Create optimal conditions for growing rosemary by adding sand, well-rotted manure, and compost to your garden soil. Dig your garden bed deeply before planting. The garden soil pH should be between 5.0 and 6.0 for growing rosemary.

If possible plant this well-loved, frequently used herb where it is handy for the kitchen.

Planting

Growing rosemary from seed for your garden can be difficult and the results somewhat unpredictable. It’s best to grow rosemary by taking cuttings and growing new plants from them.

In the late summer (or early fall), take cuttings by trimming off well-established side shoots that are at least 8” long. Snip the bottom leaves from the stem (don’t pull them off, or you’ll damage the stem).

Many gardeners find that growing rosemary by placing the cuttings in a glass of water will cause the plant to form roots without further assistance or effort. However, for your best chance at success, dip the bottom ½” of the stems in a root-inducing hormone powder (available online, at garden centers, and even Wal-Mart).

Shake off the excess powder, and plant in a light planting mixture of perlite and peat moss (essentially, a seed-starting type mixture). The soil mixture should be slightly damp, but not wet. Using a spray bottle to water works best. Your new rosemary plants should grow roots within 3 weeks. To speed up the process, place a heat source below the rooting bed.

Once the cuttings have established roots, you can then transplant them into containers. By spring, the plants will be established enough that you can move them outdoors if desired.

Prune your rosemary bushes once a year, as soon as the flowers have faded. Pruning will help your rosemary plant grow more compactly.

Be sure to pinch off the terminal bud (the main shoot’s top) and the tips of the plant’s shoots, to encourage the rosemary plant to branch out. Prune your rosemary bushes once a year, once the flowers have faded. When growing rosemary, pruning will help the plant grow more compactly.

Watering

Let the garden soil dry out in between waterings. When growing rosemary, don’t overwater or you may harm the roots.

Fertilizing

For established rosemary plants, in the spring, apply a dose of a complete fertilizer to the garden soil at the base of the plant and water in.

Growing Rosemary Indoors

Rosemary can overwinter indoors in harsh climates, and can even exist happily as a houseplant if it has a sunny window and you watch the humidity. When housing rosemary indoors, be careful to keep the plant away from cold drafts and give it at least six hours of sunlight a day during the summer months.

The plant stems can be very rigid, so use caution when moving or watering the plant. Rosemary can be a tricky indoor guest if you have it in a very dry location.

It likes some moisture in the air but doesn’t like wet feet. Keep a dish of pebbles filled with water nearby, and only water when the surface of the dirt feels dry. If you start to see a few bald patches on overwintering plants, don’t worry; they’ll fill in quickly in spring.

If you’ve adopted a rosemary bush as a mini Christmas tree, you can keep it from year to year with a little extra care. It’s a green choice, and a tasty one too.

Harvesting

Once the leaves are large enough to use, you can harvest rosemary, as you need it. Make sure that you leave plenty of leaves still on the plant so that the plant’s growth isn’t affected.

Gardening Tip for Growing Rosemary – The leaves are reportedly at their height in flavor just before the rosemary plant flowers.

The short dense needles of rosemary retain their aromatic quality in situ even after a snowfall, have tasty leaves when picked in full sun, and produce new growth throughout the year replenished a herb gardener harvesting for cooking.

Propagating Rosemary

Propagating herbs is a cost-effective way of meeting the needs of a home kitchen and a household’s favorite meals. Rosemary is an evergreen herb commonly used in Italian-style cuisine and roasts.

Knowing when and how to propagate rosemary will save money at garden centers and garage sales buying young plants for picking leaves and save on buying cultivated leaves from farmers markets, greengrocer, and supermarkets.

Having decided to propagate rosemary for a herb garden at home, there are four main choices of parent plants:

1. Propagate using the best specimens growing at home;
2. Propagate using a neighbor’s or friends’ herbs (if they have well-established rosemary and sage);
3. Buy in young plants from a garden center or herb nursery or
4. Buy seed from a reputable online seed merchant or garden center.

Propagating rosemary by seed can be done in the springtime. Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) seed should be sown indoors in a budget propagator, ideally in a heated propagator, to offer the best chance of germination and a good proportion of seedlings to grow on to young plants to transplant outdoors. An alternative is the vegetative propagation of rosemary in the summer months.

Propagating rosemary from seed in spring may not have as good outcomes as vegetative propagation of rosemary in summer.

Rosemary can be propagated from seed, but softwood cuttings, as well as cuttings taken from semi-ripened shoots, roots easily and the plants, establish well on suitable sites.

Rosemary plant cuttings should be planted in well-aerated moisture-retentive young plants compost, grown under protective measures, including cloches, fleecing, or glass, if possible before planting out the following spring in the chosen site in outdoors herb garden.