Rosemary

Sowing: Rosemary can be direct-sown or transplanted, but seed germinates slowly and unevenly with a low success rate, so gardeners more often propagate it from stem cuttings, layering, or division to get plants true to type. Siting: it wants full sun and a light, slightly acidic, dry to medium, well-drained soil, and it tolerates drought, salt, and heavy pruning but has little tolerance for wet, humid conditions or heavy clay. Watering: because overwatering and poor drainage are the leading causes of decline, the soil should be allowed to dry between waterings, and the plant seldom needs fertilizer beyond an occasional light feed if growth looks slow or pale.

Pruning: once flowering has finished, plants can be pruned hard to encourage dense new foliage, but cuts should stay within thinner, leafy growth rather than into old bare wood. Where winters are too cold or wet for it to persist outdoors, rosemary is commonly grown as a container plant or houseplant, moved outside for summer and brought back in, or given mulch and wind protection if left in the ground over winter.

Rosemary is generally free of serious pest and disease trouble, but aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies, spider mites, and scale can appear, particularly on plants kept indoors. Poor air circulation combined with high humidity encourages powdery mildew, while root rot and botrytis are the most commonly reported diseases. Overwatering is described as the single most common cause of plant decline or death, making drainage and watering restraint the main safeguard against these problems.

Small branches can be picked as needed once a plant is established, but no more than about a fifth of the growth should be taken at a time, and cuts should avoid the older woody stems. Fresh-cut rosemary keeps its flavor for two to seven days refrigerated, while stems or whole plants meant for drying are best cut before flowering and hung upside down in a warm, well-ventilated spot; once dry, the leaves are stripped and stored in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.

Culinary: Rosemary is grown chiefly as a culinary herb, its aromatic leaves used fresh or dried to flavor food, with sturdy long stems sometimes used as skewers for grilling. Ornamental: it is also planted for its year-round foliage and long bloom period as a landscape shrub, low hedge, container or topiary specimen, and in cutting or dried-flower arrangements, while its flowers draw bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Medicinal and cultural: rosemary was valued by ancient peoples as a sacred and medicinal plant, and in folk medicine it was used for complaints such as headache, memory loss, and nervous agitation, a use reflected in its long-standing association with remembrance in Greek and later European tradition.

Rosemary is native to the coastal Mediterranean region, including parts of Africa, Europe, and Western Asia, where it grows wild in dry, rocky ground and its Latin name recalls its habit of thriving near sea spray. People have cultivated it for thousands of years, with dried sprigs recovered from Egyptian tombs dating to around 3000 BC, and it was carried into Britain by Roman armies before spreading into wider cultivation across Europe and eventually worldwide.