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vtown05
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When does rosemary flower?

I've had a bunch of rosemary plants planted in containers for a few years now I have never seen any of them flower. Does it take a few years for them to flower or is my pruning causing them not to flower?

gumbo2176
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Location: New Orleans

My rosemary plant has already flowered and the few flowers left are dying out. The plant makes very small, mostly white flowers about the size of a pencil eraser.

This plant has been in the ground for almost 3 years now and got knocked back a bit with last winter's unusually cold weather for New Orleans but has made a great turnaround. That thing is about 3 ft. in diameter and more than 3 ft. tall. More of a bush than a plant.

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I have to bring my rosemary inside, though I have two 'Arp' plants that I'm trying to establish outside (so far have survived one winter, getting ready for Round 2 :bouncey:). This year, I'll have a whole mess of them to bring inside since I tried taking cuttings in spring -- and you know, you take extra cuttings so at least a few of them survive -- well, just about every one of them rooted :roll:

My mature (this will be their 3rd winter that I've had them) indoor ones flower in late winter/early spring.

louielam
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Location: Valley Stream

I just saw some flowers blossoming earlier this week. The little flowers are beautiful. I bought the plant earlier this year. I cut the leaves every month for my mother to cook lamb chops. I put it in a 4-inch container and fertilize it with 30-10-10 solution every week, the leaves grow back fast.

I used to keep rosemary plants in a sub-tropical climate and they never produced flowers.

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Runningtrails
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Location: Barrie, Ontario,Canada

This is the first year I have grown rosemary and I didn't know that it flowered! Mine is outside but I will be potting it up and putting it on the windowsill soon. The frost has probably already gottten to it. I would have brought it in sooner but I forgot about it until I read you post. Thanks for the reminder! I'll be looking for blossoms in the spring!

I got mine by rooting pieces from the grocery store. I have no idea what kind it is.

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

OK. I saw signs that the bigger 'Arp' outside flowered recently.
:lol: I don't think the OP is getting a definitive answer at all! (Except that "...rosemary flowers when it wants to flower!" -- Marlingardener) :lol:

IAmNemoHearMeRoar
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I started my Rosemary 3 years ago in a pot with a 6 inch diameter and 7 inches deep. I didn't touch it for three years. the soil was dry and probably had little nutrition from the looks of it after 3 years in the rain but it was still going somehow, though only about a foot high, and it had never flowered.
About a week ago I transplanted it to a pot with fresh soil. the new pot has a 9 inch diameter and is 8.5 inches deep. Since I did this a week ago, the plant has exploded. New branches growing super dense out of everywhere, and it has started flowering like crazy for the first time ever. I know you've gotten a lot of "it flowers when it feels like it" answers. my personal experience is that it flowers very quickly when it's suddenly happy. This plant is three years old tho, so I don't know if I'd expect it to flower the first year. I use it for cooking so I didn't even think that it may flower until it suddenly did this week. Honestly, I came into this thread to find out if if I need to pick the flowers off like I do with basil so that it doesn't go to seed then die.

Another thing I will mention while I'm here, I've read that Rosemary can't survive in less that -1 celcius. That's junk. I live in Canada, albeit victoria, witch is literally the warmest city in Canada thru the winter, but it does get down to like -10 during the night in the winter. I've never brought the thing inside. Maybe it couldn't survive the deep snow the rest of Canada gets, but we don't get snow here, just lots of rain, so it's fine. I don't even water it over the winter. It's the most hardy plant I've had.

pepperhead212
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Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b

Welcome to the forum!

You must have one of the cold resistant varieties - probably the reason they sell it in your area. The standard variety I grow is only resistant to around 20°F; if it is in the teens, I have to cover it, and in the single digits I put a heater under there! And another reason I know that it is another variety is that this kind does not do well in pots. I gave up on that years ago when every one would get rootbound in 6 mo. or less, in much larger pots than you describe.

My rosemary flowers every spring, now that it is older. A very old one - 13 years - that was dieing off flowered constantly, due to stress.

catgrass
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Location: Southwest Louisiana

I agree with MarlinGardener-Mine flowers when it wants to. Mine is in the ground, and has been for several years. 2 years ago was the first time it flowered. Mine's flowers were blue. Sometimes there are only 2 or 3 flowers on it and other times, several branches will have flowers. It is approximately 3 ft x 3 ft. I am in zone 9



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