Beth,

As with so many other things in gardening, it all depends.

There are many named cultivars of rosemary. Some of them are cold hardy only to zone 8, but some of the newer ones are reportedly hardy to zone 6 or even 5. A couple of the newer cold-hardy ones I can think of off the top of my head are "Arp" and "Madelene Hill", which sometimes is erroneously referred to as Hill's Hardy.

There are several factors to consider. First, well-drained soil is essential whether you're growing in the ground or in a pot. Secondly, if you have a "normal" zone 7 winter, it might be just fine if it is one of the more cold-hardy ones, except for the next factor....Third, any plant grown in a pot above ground is considered to be growing "one zone colder" than the identical plant in the ground. This is because the ground insulates plant roots better than a container. So, if you have a zone 8 rosemary in a pot and you are in zone 7, your rosemary--if left outside in an above-ground pot--will be growing in zone 6 conditions. Is that as clear as mud?

If you have one of the newer cold-hardy forms of rosemary, I think it likely will be OK outside. Be sure that you do not overwater it and, if rains falls continually all winter long, move it up on the porch or someplace else that will keep a lot of the rain off of it. Other option would be to build a little hoophouse over it using PVC pipe as a frame and either 6 mm plastic or a couple of layers of frost-blanket type floating row cover over it.

If you have one of the older types of rosemary which is only reliably cold hardy to zone 8, I'd move it indoors once the nights are really cold. My cats have never bothered a rosemary, but I can't guess whether yours would or not.

I also think you likely could keep it on the porch for a good long while as long as it gets some sunlight there. You might be able to keep it there all winter long if the winter weather is only "average" and if you throw a heavy blanket over it on the really cold nights. (You could use a tripod made of plant stakes or bamboo or you could use a tomato cage to hold the blanket up off the rosemary so it isn't crushed by the heavy blanket.)

One more thing to consider is not just the date that really cold weather arrives, but "how" it arrives. Plants that are marginally hardy have a hard time with sudden and drastic temperature changes. For example, if your plant has been enjoying 60 degree days and 45 degree nights, and then the temperature plunges 40 degrees in one 24-hour period, that can damage the plant. By contrast, if the weather just gradually gets colder and colder over a period of weeks, the plant can acclimate more gradually.

So, in summary, if you don't know the cold-hardiness of your plant, play it safe by moving it up onto the porch or right up against the east side of the house (so it can get morning light) and cover it on cold nights. If you know it is a zone 8 rosemary, move it inside. If you know it is a zone 6 or colder rosemary, leave it outside but be prepared to cover if it really, really significantly colder-than-average weather threatens. Some years I can get rosemary through the winter just fine (generally in the warmer, drier years) and some years I can't. Mine is a zone 8 rosemary and it is in the ground, but I am in zone 7B and we tend to have warmer, drier winters than most folks on this forum.

Dawn

I don't know what variety I have but I bought rosemary in the spring two years , planted it in the ground and had it freeze over the winter in the open garden. So spring before last I planted one in a pot and brought it onto a glassed porch for the winter. I don't allow this porch to freeze but it gets down to the upper 30's in the winter. It did great, spent the summer in the garden and will overwinter on the porch again. My expereince for what it's worth.

If the pot is too big to bring in the house, perhaps you could repot it to a smaller pot, trimming some of the top to balance the roots and dry it. I treat several of my houseplants this way. Small pots in the house in the winter, bigger pots outside in the summer.

I'm concerned for the stock pot. Is he not allowed to cook again? Poor guy got relegated to yard duty....

:P

Dale

Heh, heh. Probably got his bottom drilled for drainage, too.

LOL LOL LOL

Dale, I guess we should have seen that comment coming from you. Thanks for the chuckle.

Dawn

LOL... I didn't mess up a perfectly good stock pot. No, this was one I found behind one of the rental properties after the renter had moved out. They had left it outside during the ice storm last winter, because the bottom was bowed out and cracked. I repurposed it, that's all. :)

I'm probably going to try to bring the rosemary inside... I've got a bad feeling about this winter. That, and my porch doesn't get a whole lot of sunlight, surrounded by trees. I do have a south facing window that I can put it in, but will need to repot it into a smaller container. The room I'll be putting it in doesn't get too hot during the winter either, so I think it'll be the best bet. I REALLY love my rosemary plant! Been using it in alot of cooking!

I lost the tag for it too... LOL! I've got all my other tags and empty seed packets, but lost THAT one. Typical.

Off topic, but a friend of mine told me yesterday that the Almanac said we're due three ice storms this winter! GAH!!!! This is also the guy who told us the Almanac predicted last years ice storm and the hurricanes of 08. He's really making me think I should buy a copy of the Almanac myself! I so hope he's wrong this year.

Beth

Beth,

I have both the Old Farmer's Almanac and the Farmer's Almanac and I read them for entertainment more than anything else because their accuracy varies quite a bit from year to year.

However, NOAA is predicting a return to El Nino conditions, which usually means a cold and very rainy fall and winter in the middle of the country where we just happen to live. Unfortunately, though, being in the middle of the country, sometimes we go warmer...sometimes we go cooler, but I think we always tend to be wetter during El Nino. The NOAA Winter Outlook is linked below.
Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: NOAA's Winter Outlook

I have never had any luck bringing Rosemary inside for the winter. But inground, it has done GREAT for me. I can use fresh rosemary all winter long. ;)

Moni

Oklamoni
Me too. The rosemary I've grown has done well in the most harsh, neglected, dry, but well drained conditions. My DS who lives in more harsh weather conditions than I, in Albuquerque, NM, is able to grow huge rosemary bushes, similar I think to the rosemary that grows wild in the rugged hills of Mediterranean areas.

Dawn,
I know the Almanac isn't a definitive weather source, but the fact it was right about two years does make me nervous... hopefully this'll be the year that it's totally WRONG. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

NOW I'M TORN. DH said, "Didn't that plant only cost five bucks?"... LOL! So I'll go ahead and plant it outside, w/ a tomato cage over it so that I can cover it if I feel the need. I've got alot dried and put by, so maybe I won't run out of rosemary anytime soon, if it dies. :)

Beth

Beth,

I think the Almanac is just like the local forecasters....it plays the odds based on averages and such. The local guys at least have current models, but the almanacs have to make their forecasts a lot longer in advance.

I've noticed that for our particular location, the almanacs are more correct in forecasting temperatures than rainfall/snowfall. This year, they were way off most months, but it was one or our rainier years and that's rare. Their forecasts for the fall (Sept. and Oct.) have been pretty close though.

Maybe the plant did cost only five bucks, but that is five bucks you could spend on something else next year if you can keep it alive!

Rosemary is so useful in the kitchen that I wouldn't be surprised if you don't run out anyway, but if you keep the plant alive a couple more months (or longer) then at least the dried rosemary you have will last longer.

Dawn

I KNOW! Five bucks is five bucks! LOL! And I'm remembering all the frustration I felt the summer before trying to start some from seed. GAH.

I do have two spice containers full of dried, but if it's a big duck year I'll be going thru that fast. A roasted chicken with rosemary is wonderful too! And I just like the smell of it.

I'm seeing now that the southern part of Missouri is under a frost advisory for tonight, according to our weather channel. I better decide soon!

Beth

Brrrr! SOOOOO glad I'm retired, I can look out the window at the ice and snow and say, "Isn't that pretty." But we'll have the worry of our younger family members getting out and about in it.

I have a pot of rosemary that has sat on my porch all summer. I bought it at one of Bartlesville's farmer's markets downtown and was told that it would be a perennial in my garden if I planted it in a protected spot and mulched it. I intended to get it in the ground sooner but haven't yet. I'll wait till after tonight's freeze and then do it. I just love rosemary. Plus it makes me hum, "Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme...." Such a weird little song.

Lowe's is having their close-out plant sale here. I bought raspberry, blackberry and blueberry bushes 75% off. I didn't think they'd let DH use his military 10% discount but they did. So I got them 85% off. They were in good-sized pots. I hadn't seen blueberry plants that big and nice in a long while, but the raspberry plants look pretty sorry. The blackberries were so-so. I went ahead and got the blackberries in the ground, but I had to stop and wait for the neighbor's siamese cat to get her head out of my watering jug. I guess she was thirsty. I will bring the raspberries and the blueberries in for tonight and plant them after this freeze is over. I've picked a protected spot for the raspberries, because I know they won't do well if they get the full effect of our Oklahoma sun. Oh, and Atwoods had a 50% off sale on their plants. I got some "Bright Lights" swiss chard and a new peach tree to replace the one in the back yard. There's something oozing up from the root and gathering around the base of the trunk. Looks like sap. Lots of it. I don't know what's going on in that back yard with so many of my fruit trees having root-related problems there.

chipsnsalsa, funny you mention ABQ. I am there right now. Lots of people in my daughters neighborhood grow rosemary as bushes! Even trimmed in to squares or ball shapes.

It grows awesome here.

Moni

Beth: try taking a few cuttings from the plant and start them inside. Then if you do lose the mother plant you will have small ones to plant when the weather worms up, they start very easy.Hammer

I've never tried rooting rosemary. Will they root just in water, or do you have to do it another way?

I want more information on rooting rosemary cuttings too. I tried earlier this year and it didn't work. I cut a green branch, stripped off the lower leaves, dipped the end into rooting compound, and firmed damp soil around it. I kept the soil damp. The leaves dried out and fell off. The branch dried up. A couple weeks later I pulled it out and observed no roots at all. I must have been doing something wrong.

Ilene,

You can root it in water, but it roots just fine in soil. Plants that root in water develop differently from those rooted in soil, so if you root it in water first, then it has to adjust all over again when moved to soil. So, you might as well start it in soil.

Gamebird,

It doesn't necessarily sound like you did anything wrong.

Just take 2-3" tip cuttings and remove the leaves from the bottom inch of the cutting. If you have/use a rooting hormone, dip the tips of the cutting in the rooting hormone and then insert them into a pot or flat of sterile potting soil. Keep them moist but not soggy and they should root in 2-4 weeks. If you can, keep them in a fairly warm area--around 60 to 70 degrees because they are less likely to root in very warm or very cool conditions. They're usually slower to root at this time of year than they are in late spring or early summer.

I don't know what happened with your previous effort.

If you do a lot of cuttings, don't crowd them too closely together. Don't keep the cuttings too wet (or too dry!) and don't tug on them to see if they are ready. Tugging just breaks off any fine root hairs that might have been forming. Once they're about 4 weeks old (at this time of year, in late spring it might be just 2 weeks old), dig gently around one and see if you see roots. You can grow them on the flat another 2-4 weeks. Once they're 6-8 weeks old, you can transfer them to individual pots or paper cups and grow them on there.

Dawn

WELL. :)

I got all inundated with info and a bunch of stuff going on here all at once. That's how it tends to go with me!

So HERE'S the NEW game plan! Tomorow the plant itself will be planted in the ground. On a slight hill that gets great sun and drains wonderfully. Five stems will be taken off of the plant. Two will be put in just dirt (I can't afford sterile potting mix right now). Two will have their ends dipped in honey and then planted (I've found a couple of places on the web that says this will work). One will be started in just water. I have rooted a cherry plant stem in just plain water, so I feel confident that I can make a good attempt at this.

If all else fails, I'll buy another rosemary plant next spring... LOL!

Thanks for all your help, guys. :)

Beth

Dipped in honey? I've never heard of that before! Wow, the things I've learned on this forum!

I bought some rooting hormone at Lowe's because I wanted to root some mums and I've never had any luck rooting them in water. But they are looking limp and sad and I don't think they're going to make it.

My neighbor has one of those weeping willow trees out on the back of her property and the wind is always blowing pieces of it into my yard. I've heard that you can make a tea with willow branches and root things in the water, but I've tried it and I don't find that it works any better than just plain water.

Beth, I'm going to go out and take cuttings, too. I've tried to root Rosemary in soil before and it just hasn't happened for me. I always thought the stems would be too woody to root in water. But I'll give it a try.

Thanks for the tip on honey. I might take some more cuttings of my mum and try that.

Good Morning, Y'all,

I think using honey as a rooting aid might be a two-edged sword. Raw honey has great antibacterial properties, but I don't know if they retain that on plant tips that have been inserted into either soil or water. Honey also is rich in some vitamins and minerals, so maybe those would help feed a cutting and help it root. However, there's also the possibility that yeast will start growing, although I don't know if a yeast growth would harm the cutting or the soil. Another thought to consider is that some of us who garden organically add molasses or even plain sugar to soil as a biological stimulant and it seems to work. You won't know if it works unless you try it to see.

Dawn

That's what I'm saying, Dawn... don't know till you try! I read this somewhere and then saw a woman on a video on YouTube who uses it alot (can't find video right now). I'll have other cuttings to hedge my bets, sooooo.... :). The only thing I'm worried about is using yard dirt, but I MIGHT be able to convince DH that a bag of potting mix might be a good investment right now. LOL! I'll report my findings on this experiment. :)

Beth

I'm not a big herb person, but I have read that the secret with rosemary is to keep it damp while making roots by putting a plastic bag over the pot. Not totally closed but enough to help it retain the moisture. If I were trying it, I would probably prepare a milk jug just like we do for winter sowing and plant it that way.