Nov 08 2008
Bring Your Garden Indoors: Rosemary
Rosemary is another woody herb that grows very much like lavender. It is not quite as hardy in southern Indiana, but it does survive most winters. Grow it outdoors in a sunny but somewhat sheltered location, and it does fine. I add extra mulch over it when a winter storm comes, just to provide a little extra protection.
Grown outdoors, rosemary can develop into quite a pretty little shrub in warmer climates. I keep mine clipped because I use it in the kitchen, so it doesn’t get very large.
Make cuttings of rosemary, and plant them using rooting hormone powder. Snip the growing tips for rooting. I use about 8 inches or so to have plenty to root underground and plenty of leaves above. Carefully strip off the lower leaves a couple of inches or so, and dip the bare end into water, then into the rooting powder. The purpose of the water is to make the powder stick. Insert your cuttings into planting holes you have already opened in the pot. Don’t just push the end into the potting soil, because that will scrape off the rooting powder. Just make a planting hole with your finger, and then be sure to press the potting soil snugly around the cutting.
This is a 6″ pot with three good sized rosemary starts in it. I’ll have nice plants indoors this winter, and nice plants to set outside next spring.
Just in case we have a hard winter . . . it’s always good to have some backup spring plants.
I am looking high and low for a place to obtain organic rosemary starts so I can grow it. I cannot find organic rosemary anywhere! Do you have any suggestions? Thank you!
I always start herbs from organic seeds. Not knowing where you live, I’d suggest that you do an online search for “organic herbs” or “organic rosemary plants” for starters, or ask at a local garden center. Check at local farmer’s markets, too. If someone is selling organic rosemary snips for cooking, they may have plants available, too…maybe as a special purchase the following week???