Here is what I know about growing rosemary, from the lady who sold me the plants:
1. likes well-drained, even sandy, soil
2. likes to be evenly moist or on the dry side
3. must come in in my winter
4. planted in a plastic pot with holes in the bottom, and then buried in the ground, so I can easily retrieve it in late fall for a sunny, indoor windowsill
5. will grow as large as the pot I put it in
6. happiest in spring and fall, when days are warm and nights chilly
I love rosemary on roasted beets, in these scones, and mostly recently, in the crust of a lemon tart.
Have fun gardening! Be careful...it's addicting! :)
ReplyDeleteI adore rosemary! I like it in foccacia, which I don't eat anymore (gluten-free thing). I failed miserably at keeping rosemary perennially until last year, when I bought a rosemary plant at a garden supply store here and it wintered beautifully and is getting HUGE! (I just kept it outside, in the ground, but it's probably warmer here than there.)
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Wishing you the best with your herbs.. I love rosemary too. One of my favorite seasonings..
ReplyDeleteI've always read that rosemary prefers Mediterranean conditions too,but when we moved to this house (in a valley, on clay) one of only two decent plants in the garden was a huge rosemary bush! I have no idea why it's so happy.
ReplyDeleteIt is one of my favourite herbs too- I love it with lamb, in apple jelly, on roast vegetables, in rosemary cake, on pizza with potato and anchovies and even in the bath :-) When it's big enough the sprigs (de-leaved) make good kebab sticks.
Thanks for the tips! I has a rosemary plant in Baltimore, but it died after a few years (I didn't bring it inside). I've been meaning to grow more b/c we like it so much. Think it's too late in the year to get one?
ReplyDeleteAmyK, I'm on the East Coast, too, and I think you still have time (but I am a gardening novice!).
ReplyDeleteI left mine outside this year, Margaret. Had I known you wanted a plant, I would have given you a sprig of mine to start your own plant! And, mine survived beautifully outside this winter, protected by the back porch on the south side of the house. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteCaryn
Good luck! In my experience, rosemary is very, very hardy and forgiving in different climates. I've grown it on the gulf coast, and in the Tennessee hills, and I've seen it growing like crazy on the coast of Croatia, where the winters have a brutal cold wind. I think it's harder to kill rosemary than it is to grow it!
ReplyDeleteMy rosemary overwintered last year but is looking pretty rough this Spring. I am in Wisconsin and last winter was unusually mild, this winter was more normal (cold and snowy). I also have one in a planter in my kitchen window that has survived 2 years now. I just cut a hunk off whenever I need it for cooking and it seems to like that and is growing nicely without getting too big for it's spot. Good luck. I have oregano that has been in the ground now for 5 years and it is taking over my herb garden, so keep it in a spot that it will be controlled if you plant it in the garden.
ReplyDeleteShinny, I didn't know oregano was a perennial! Maybe I'll dig up my baby plant and contain it in a pot so it doesn't take over the garden like the mint is trying to.
ReplyDeleteRosemary is one of my favorites! I love the smell so much that I had our florist tuck little sprigs of it into my wedding bouquet.
ReplyDeleteHere in North Texas rosemary is perennial and evergreen. It survives through inches of snow and the often 100+ temps. I love being able to cut it and use ! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteRosemary! My favorite too.
ReplyDeleteI feel very out of place - I don't like rosemary :(
ReplyDeleteBut I like to garden! Good luck with your wonderfully healthy-looking little herbs!
We are located in northeastern Pennsylvania and I too love rosemary and feel the need to rub my hands on it whenever I walk by the plants!,so fragrant! After years of experimenting I now just buy 3 healthy plants each season.. They never seem to overwinter in our harsh winters and when I dig them up and replant in pots in the house they don't do well. At the end of the season I harvest what's left and dry. Good luck!
ReplyDeletewish you luck with your herbs.i love rosemary,too.but unfortunable have i no luck with the plants over the winter.
ReplyDeletehave a nice weekend,
regina