How to Grow Rosemary

Rosemary is an evergreen shrub with needle-like leaves and bright blue flowers. Rosemary flowers are persistent and present in spring and summer, filling the air with a pleasant aroma. This beautiful plant, used primarily to season dishes, is also commonly used as ornamental plants in the landscape.

The scientific name for rosemary is Rosmarinus officinalis, which translates to “sea dew,” as its gray-green foliage resembles mist against the cliffs of the Mediterranean, where the plant originated.

Caring for the rosemary plant is easy if you provide it with well-drained soil, sandy soil, and at least six to eight hours of sunlight. These plants thrive in warm, humid environments and cannot withstand extremely cold temperatures. Rosemary cannot withstand winters below -1°C. It is often best to put them in containers, which can be placed in a soil and easily moved inside a greenhouse or home during the winter.

Rosemary prefers to stay a little dry, so terracotta pots are a good choice when selecting suitable containers. These pots allow the plant to dry out faster. Wash rosemary plants thoroughly with water when the soil is dry to the touch, but allow the plants to dry out between watering intervals. Even indoors, rosemary plants will require plenty of light, at least six hours, so place the plant in a suitable, draft-free location.

The Size of Rosemary:

Pruning rosemary will help make a bushy plant. Cut the sprigs as you would when cutting back a houseplant, rosemary pruning is done once flowering has stopped. The general rule for cutting rosemary is to take no more than a third of the plant at a time and make cuts just above a leaf joint. Cut strands can be dried like any other plant by hanging upside down in a cool, dry place.

Rosemary Cuttings:

Rosemary plants are usually propagated by cuttings because it can be tricky to get rosemary seeds ready for germination. Successfully growing plants from rosemary seeds is only possible when the seeds are very fresh and when they are planted in optimal growing conditions.

Get new rosemary seedlings from cuttings of existing evergreen plants. Cut stems that are about 5cm long and remove the leaves on the lower two-thirds of the cutting. Place the cuttings in a mixture of perlite and peat moss and then water until roots begin to develop. Once roots have developed, you can plant the cuttings as you would a rosemary plant.

The plants are prone to root binding and should be repotted at least once a year. Yellowing of the lower foliage is an early indication that it is time to repot your plant.