Rosemary Success!

[lily51]

I had a beautiful rosemary plant last year in a large decoratiave container as part of a mix of flowers, herbs. I've not had much success with overwintering rosemary in the house, but this year decided to set the container in the porch which is enclosed and insulated, but not heated. I set it at window level, windows facing east.

I watered it some at first, had plans to mist it but really didn't .Checked on it today and it is beautiful, about 2 1/2 feet tall, aromatic, no powdery mildew, healthy color, and ready to set back outside when the weather gets warmer.

I'll be planting more rosemary in containers and bringing into the porch this year!

[digitS']

Lily, I used to carry the rosemary plants down to the basement for the winter. There is a west window down there and if the winter sun was out, the light may sweep across the plants once a day. It is about 55°F all the time.

The last time I tried that, I think there were 8 plants. Four of them died over the winter.

So, I risked having them in my unheated greenhouse through the winter. They sit on the floor and I cover them with a vinyl table cloth if the outdoor temperature is predicted to be down near the single digitS' overnight.

It warms considerably during the sunny daytimes but we don't have too many of them during the worst winter weeks. However, by early March there is some sunshine and longer hours of daylight. I don't open the greenhouse even when it is getting warm in there and the rosemary can really start to grow about then.

They have had nearly 100% survival in that winter environment! They are all out in an unheated hoop house right now so that the greenhouse can be taken over by plant starts . . . and more carefully monitored. Many of the rosemary plants are blooming. It may get down real close to freezing but I think they will be okay. Soon, they will be out again in the yard.

Steve

[lily51]

That's great, Steve. What is your zone? I'm in 5b, but don't trust putting out less hardy herbs until Memorial Day...especially this year.
Now I have visions of overwintering all sorts of plants in my porch.

[RogueRose]

I thought rosemary was an evergreen? The house I rent came with a rosemary bush...I'm in NJ I think Zone 6. I pretty much ignore it...as I don't like to cook with it too often. But I do love the smell. But I have to cut it back every year because it grows so much. It gets buried with snow, wind, rain....never dries out or goes dormant?

[lily51]

I would say you are on the borderline of where rosemary can survive the winter. It usually is said it doesn't do well under 20F, and that zone 8 or warmer is good for it to become a large plant, used as a hedge,grows as a perennial.

Maybe yours is in a well-protected place. I just know here in Ohio it is treated as an annual. All I can say is, Enjoy! you are very lucky!

[imafan26]

Congratulations on keeping your rosemary going.

My rosemary in zone 11 does fine all year long outside. It really only has problems when it rains so much the area floods. The garden is a flood zone.

Today the rosemary had a close call. Someone was out torching the weeds and the mulch caught fire next to the rosemary and papaya. There was smoke everywhere. The mulch was pretty much charcoal and the white picket fence is blackened. Good thing rosemary is a fire resistant plant. I'll have to check in about a week to see if the plants have any lasting damage. The papaya may not fare as well, the leaves are already starting to wilt.

[lily51]

Congratulations on keeping your rosemary going.

My rosemary in zone 11 does fine all year long outside. It really only has problems when it rains so much the area floods. The garden is a flood zone.

Today the rosemary had a close call. Someone was out torching the weeds and the mulch caught fire next to the rosemary and papaya. There was smoke everywhere. The mulch was pretty much charcoal and the white picket fence is blackened. Good thing rosemary is a fire resistant plant. I'll have to check in about a week to see if the plants have any lasting damage. The papaya may not fare as well, the leaves are already starting to wilt.

When we were in Hawaii, it seemed anything could grow there. Loved the wild hibiscus on each island. Loved it all. It certainly is a lush paradise.
I could see where too much humidity could be a problem for some plants, but not many. The day after we left Kauai, it rainded 35" there!
I did fall in love with your islands.

[imafan26]

Thanks. It is a great place to live. Kauai is home to Mt. Waialeale, one of the wettest places on the planet. It rains nearly every day and gets over 400 inches of rain a year.

It is too warm to grow a lot of things like apples, peaches, and rhodies unless you live in the higher elevations.

I really appreciate not having to watch out for unexpected frost or having to wait to plant. I think the pictures Jal-ut has posted of the snow covered country and colorful sunsets are beautiful, but I'd take a couple of weeks of that tops.

As it is, I my overwintering consists of dragging in succulents into the patio when it rains two weeks straight to keep them from rotting. The rest of the time I can keep my windows and doors open, and work in the yard or garden whenever I want. Rain just makes the weeds explode and it is a jungle out there.

Rosemary does fine in the ground and in pots. Too much water and fertilizer will end up with rank growth. One of my rosemary plants got up to 7 ft tall. I lost it last year after I put too much compost on the bed and the rosemary rotted.

The replacement rosemary is in a pot for now. It was one of my Christmas tree topiary and I put it in a bigger pot.

[ElizabethB]

Rosemary, dill and sweet basil are my favorite herbs. My rosemary was in a pot last year. It stayed outside with no attention all winter. It was still alive but looking kind of scraggly. Last month I pruned it back and potted it up - it was seriously root bound. Then decided to take my herbs out of pots and put them in a small herb bed. My rosemary is unrecognizable. It has increased in size by at least 1/3. Last night I cooked some thick center cut pork chops. I cut a slit in each one and inserted a sprig of rosemary. Kept the seasoning simple - sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I thought G was going to hurt himself. I also like using rosemary with lamb.

I have never been to Hawaii but have been to San Diego. I will never forget my first trip there. My jaw was dropped at the sight of jade plants and rosemary grown as hedges. Can't even express my envy of the bougainvillea grown on the hill sides for erosion control. As grateful as I am for my long growing season I still envy SOCAL and Hawaii.

Back to rosemary in zone 9b it is a very hardy evergreen. If you had luck with it on your porch then keep on keeping on. Try other hardy herbs as well. Sage and thyme over winter without much attention so that may work for you.

Good luck

[lily51]

7' tall! And I was so impressed with my 30" rosemary!

At least u are in a very warm climate Elizabeth. I also remember the first time I saw jade, the indoor plant in Ohio people babied to keep growing into a "tree", when I was in southern Ca. It was growing huge, like a weed. I lost my interest in it after that.

Now let's hope for warm weather so we Buckeyes can get outside.

[RogueRose]

I would say you are on the borderline of where rosemary can survive the winter. It usually is said it doesn't do well under 20F, and that zone 8 or warmer is good for it to become a large plant, used as a hedge,grows as a perennial.

Maybe yours is in a well-protected place. I just know here in Ohio it is treated as an annual. All I can say is, Enjoy! you are very lucky!

It actually isn't that protected....it's where there's a lot of wind and rain and snow. Maybe it's some mutant rosemary! I was taking piece of it and scattering it around the garden to ward of groundhogs - then it started to take root. I am glad its pretty easy to take care of....I'll have to get a pic of it!

[applestar]

There are only a couple of rosemary cultivars that are listed as hardy to Zone 6. I have one of them called 'Arp' that is doing well in the ground but it's one of three that survived the first winter. Another cultivar I know of is called '(Blue something?) Hill' which I think was developed at Longwood Gardens.

I tried three different locations in my garden because I wasn't sure what would work best. Surprisingly, the most "protected" -- I.e. next to the brick patio which I thought would provide a thermal mass -- location didn't work. I'm wondering if the same mechanism that makes south side of the house foundation unsuitable for Bonsai is at work. If I remember correctly, it gets too warm, causing the plant to thaw and then gets hit by the extreme freezing temps at night. In other words, it doesn't stay in sufficiently deep hibernation/dormant state.

Another 'Arp' that I got on a late season plant sale and planted in mid-late summer didn't survive either. I believe it didn't have enough time to establish deep roots. I believe the surviving rosemary was planted in early spring.

Most common rosemary is hardy only to Zone 8 and sometimes Zone 7.

[RogueRose]

Applestar - I'd be glad to give you a cutting of mine!

[digitS']

All this talk about perennial rosemary and the tropics!!

This is now supposed to be zone 6 but we had a zone 5 winter about 3 years ago. Definitely warmer winters the last 2, however, so the zone 6 standards might be setting in. I can't imagine rosemary surviving near 0°F. Could it?!

Steve

[RogueRose]

All this talk about perennial rosemary and the tropics!!

This is now supposed to be zone 6 but we had a zone 5 winter about 3 years ago. Definitely warmer winters the last 2, however, so the zone 6 standards might be setting in. I can't imagine rosemary surviving near 0°F. Could it?!

Steve

Well...I dunno about 0F - I think it has HAD to get that cold here once or twice, not for extended periods of time, but I know it has gotten that cold. Here's a pic that shows my rosemary...but it's buried under 2ft of snow!

[valley]

Elizabeth's reference to hedges of rosemary: The same in San Francisco, I can get them started up here 6800ft but they die over winter. Looking at the picture of rosemary covered in snow in New Jersey makes me think, if I hadn't kept it in the unheated greenhouse but outside blanketed in snow it might have made it. I wonder the temperature difference in winter.