Rosemary

[Hammer]

I planted Rosemary in the garden last Spring and it did very well, grew to about 2 foot across and very healthy. I know very little about Herbs as yet. Over the last two weeks it has died off and looks dead. It shrugged off the ice and snow earlier during December and January, is this normal, does it die after one year or will it come back ?
Any advice greatlyv appreciated
Regards Hammer

[rockdigital]

I use it constantly. Just make sure that you wash it well.

[realfood]

There are many different forms of Rosemary, some of them are hardier than others. I have one very old plant which must be 40 years old and still growing strong.
Yours may be a tender type and may require protection over the Winter.
Leave it for the moment and see if it sprouts from lower down.

[vegetable-gardener]

I thought a rosemary is a evergreen. But you do get bits that die off and you can cut these off. But I would leave it for a month and see if it greens up.

[Nicola_D]

My rosemary's about 3 or 4 years old, it was in a pot (one of the multi-section herb planter things, but I've just dug it out of there and put it in a border in the garden. It seems to be doing ok.I'd do what the other's say and see what happens over the next few months.

Did you grow from seed by the way? I sowed 5 rosemary seeds 2 weeks ago in a heated propagator and nothing's happened - does it take a long time to germinate?

Nicola

[Hammer]

Rosemary takes about two weeks to germinate from seed.

Regards Hammer

[Henry78]

I had the same problem two years ago and lost the plant.
I don't know what type of Rosemary I exactly had, but the result was terrible.
Just try to find from somewhere 2-3 years old rosemary and plant it in your garden.
And can advice you regularly to take of the ice from the plant during the winter.

[Hammer]

Thanks Henry - yes it was dead, i pulled it up yesterday.
You are right though, i want an established plant for now, very dear here (Ireland) 10 Euro - about £9.00, have some seed which i will sow indoors - but need a matureish plant to use in meantime.

Regards Hammer

[Nicola_D]

My rosemary that I said I moved from a pot to the border is now looking pretty sorry for itself. there's no new growth and everything is starting to go brown so I think it's dead.

However I went to B&Q today (do you have these in Ireland?) they had loads of established rosemary, a small one was £3.60 and larger ones were £6 - we got one of the smaller ones.

Oh and by the way, the rosemary seeds I planted about in eary may - one of them just germinated! nothing from the rest yet though. I'd given up on them btu the module seed tray atill have my leeks in and some basil so I had left the unsucessful rosemary in there

[Hammer]

Managed to get 2 recently, one from local garden centre Euro 2.75 (just over £2.40) about 6" inches tall and the other from Supermarket Euro 5.00 for both an 8" inch Rosemary and a big Basil about 10" inches.(Yes, we do have B & Q here) but although you would think they are cheaper, i often find this is a perception and not always a reality. I must admit i don,t always shop around, just don,t like being "ripped off"
Regards Hammer

[Larkshall]

I used to be in the Decorating Trade and many years ago I had to cut back a Rosemary bush to get to a window. I took some of the cuttings home and rooted them, then planted them out in the garden. I still have them after 20+ years.

[mark3]

Ive got 25 yr old rosemary but I have before that tried them all ways with success and failures. Its woody and Ive a feeling it shocks easily. Certainly Ive killed vigorous young bushes by dividing even though Ive looked after the new plants well and also Ive had some peg out merely after winter as described here. So the moral would be just keep on trying until one finds where it can survive... and then leave it be!
Its now a hedge of great character but actually Im still looking for something to use its clippings for. I use it as a strewing herb Ive used it in wholemeal bread...which is 'interesting' but nothing special. I dont cook meat where obviously its in its element. And Im just starting to try to capture some essential oil from it. I have SEEN the oil at least and it has intrigued me. I tried heating a bit of stripped and chopped rosemary in olive oil and at a certain (low) heat I saw and smelled the oils come off but it was so fast I lost them! They are called volatile oils and are exactly that!
This seems to call for some distilling and Ive read that the reason 'spirits' is so-called is because it looks like the spirit of the substance leaving...which describes heating rosemary perfectly. So now I just need to trap it!