Rosemary
The genus covers three quite different plants: the hardy border salvias that come back every year, the tender ones like 'Amistad' and the microphylla hybrids that flower until Christmas in a mild autumn but need a dry winter to survive, and culinary sage and rosemary, which are Mediterranean sub-shrubs.
What unites them is drainage. Salvias survive cold far better than they survive winter wet, so a gritty soil or a raised spot does more for them than any fleece.
Care
Sheltered — essential for both flavour and hardiness.
A classic Mediterranean herb that dislikes wet feet once established.
Free-draining soil of poor-to-moderate fertility; excellent on chalky/alkaline ground; add grit to heavy clay or grow in a pot.
Trim lightly after flowering to keep a compact shape; avoid cutting back hard into old bare wood, which is slow to reshoot or may not recover at all.
Doesn't want feeding in the ground — lean soil gives the concentrated, aromatic growth you actually want in the kitchen. A plant in a pot is the one exception: a weak balanced feed a couple of times over the growing season keeps it from exhausting its compost.
Semi-ripe cuttings in summer: a 10cm side-shoot pulled off with a heel, lower leaves stripped, in gritty compost. Cheap and quick, and worth doing before a hard winter on an older, woody plant.
Month by month
Months change with the climate: in southern Italy tomatoes go out two months earlier than in England.
- MayEnjoy the flowers, attractive to early pollinators.
- JuneTrim lightly after flowering to keep a compact, bushy shape. how ›
- SeptemberHarvest sprigs for cooking and drying — best flavour just before flowering.
Months based on climate: UK. Your choice stays on this device.
- MayEnjoy the flowers, attractive to early pollinators.
- JuneTrim lightly after flowering to keep a compact, bushy shape. how ›
- SeptemberHarvest sprigs for cooking and drying — best flavour just before flowering.
Months based on climate: Northern Italy. Your choice stays on this device.
- AprilEnjoy the flowers, attractive to early pollinators.
- MayTrim lightly after flowering to keep a compact, bushy shape. how ›
- SeptemberHarvest sprigs for cooking and drying — best flavour just before flowering.
Months based on climate: Central Italy. Your choice stays on this device.
- AprilEnjoy the flowers, attractive to early pollinators.
- MayTrim lightly after flowering to keep a compact, bushy shape. how ›
- OctoberHarvest sprigs for cooking and drying — best flavour just before flowering.
Months based on climate: Southern Italy and islands. Your choice stays on this device.
Common problems
How to spot it. In heavy, waterlogged soil.
What to do. Improve drainage or grow in a pot.
How to spot it. Metallic green-and-purple striped beetle, can strip foliage.
What to do. Hand-pick if seen.
How to spot it. From infrequent light trimming or deep shade.
What to do. Trim lightly and regularly from the start; move to a sunnier spot.
Popular varieties
Questions
Rosemary: is it hardy?
H4: Hardy through an average UK winter. It survives down to −10 °C.
Can it grow in a pot?
A good choice for a pot, especially on heavy clay soil where drainage is a concern.
Rosemary: when do you prune it?
Trim lightly after flowering to keep a compact shape; avoid cutting back hard into old bare wood, which is slow to reshoot or may not recover at all. In the calendar for UK, pruning falls in June.
Rosemary: when does it flower?
In the climate of UK it flowers in April–May.
When do you feed it?
Doesn't want feeding in the ground — lean soil gives the concentrated, aromatic growth you actually want in the kitchen. A plant in a pot is the one exception: a weak balanced feed a couple of times over the growing season keeps it from exhausting its compost.