What variety is your rosemary? Arp is reliable in northern VA but the others are iffy.

In my experience, the University of Georgia cultivars like 'Athens Blue Spire' are hardier in northeastern US conditions than Madeline Hill's Texas selections like 'Arp'. This was also the outcome of testing done by Well Swept Herb farm in northern New Jersey, which is where I found out about the cultivars 'Blue Spire' and 'Blue Gem'. For whatever reason, VA/DC/MD nurseries at the time (10+ years ago) only seemed aware of 'Hill Hardy' (aka 'Madeline Hill') and 'Arp', even though Allan Armitage made the 'Blue' whatever selections in the late 1990s. My huge 'Hill Hardy' that I planted in 2006 died in the polar vortex winters. 'Blue Spire' and 'Blue Gem' were basically unaffected by this last winter that was almost as cold.

I still think you'll be pushing your luck growing these almost anywhere in MA except the most sheltered gardens in places like MV, so don't get your hopes up. Along the south and west sides of your house would be the smart places to try some, assuming it's sunny. Also try 'Salem' which I remember reading somewhere as being a hardy one.

Regarding flowering, Rosemary starts in early spring/late winter here.

Overwintered rosemary always bloomed in February for me.

I just checked the tag...it is Arp, Cecily.

MadGallica - That's so funny that you grow it all season and it doesnt flower and then flowers in the house in February..? lol

That is when mine bloomed the one time, late winter, early spring, Floral.

Well, Upper Bay Gardener, I may have picked the wrong one. It may be time for an experiment. One Arp brought in the house in a pot. The rest left in the ground with a thick mulch. And if I can find something like 'Athens Blue' I could try that too. 'Blue Gem' and 'Blue Spire' - I'll look for them. You are zone 7 though.

If I find myself in a nursery this fall, I'll try to pick up a couple of varieties that might be hardier, and try to overwinter them and see how I do. But I have to agree with Upper Gardener, I doubt they will grow outside. I don't have sun on the South side, because of a large Japanese Maple growing there. And West is up against the back of my house, and I have a line of trees about 40ft away so that cuts down the sun in the afternoon. The only place I have for full sun is facing east and that's where they are now.

A new experiment looking for just the right variety of Rosemary sounds fun. Thanks.

Well Sweep Herb farm apparently does mail ordering, though I've always purchased on-site from them.

https://wellsweep.com/catalog/

If you speak to them on the phone, it's possible they will have updated guidance on hardiness. The trials I read about in an old paper catalog of theirs were conducted in 2002-2003.

Thanks UBGardener - I would be looking for organic and I usually buy Gilbertie's out of CT. They usually stock all the local nurseries here. I just looked at the link to Well Sweep and see their herbs are organic too....thanks!

it could be a small hedge... but if you want it to be a small hedge, you sort of need to leave the hedge there to grow in.

I've had rosemary do just fine in zone 5 with leaf mulch and a sheltered spot in the yard, and die fast in zone 6 in an exposed spot that didn't get much mulch. So I think it's not just the zone. It's also the climate or even microclimate of your yard and if you mulch or not when it comes to zones on the edge like 5/6.

re the flowering

I had a small gravely border at our last place, and I pruned all the mediterran herbs hard every spring

wondering why my rosmary would never flower.

turns out, it flowers on the older woods/ stalks from the pervious year, so it needs some time and growth to flower

improving the chance for overwintering:

good drainage

dry-ish conditions in fall in order for the wood to ripen

protection against harsh winds and winter sun

Photo taken one minute ago illustrating Linaria's point. Flowers on old wood. Buds forming on this year's growth ready to flower later in the year. This is in the south of France but the pattern is the same.

I found this, lol.

Rosemary ‘Arp’

By far the most cold-hardy variety,‘Arp’ has thin, silvery, needle-like leaves. It’s the plant’s uniquely sized foliage that I believe makes it so temperature-tough, as with less surface area the plant is able to conserve its energy and essentially becomes impenetrable to cold weather. Aromatic and easy to grow, this variety is great because it gives chefs who live in more northern zones, like Zone Six, a delicious culinary option when other herbs can’t survive. Also quite drought resistant, try planting Rosemary ‘Arp’ as a low-growing hedgerow. Brushing past it will release its wonderful scent.

BeesNeeds - Thanks for that. I will definitely add a good mulch to it. I have some leaf mulch leftover. Not so sure it is sheltered. But maybe. It’s in full sun on the East side of the house, and there are some taller plants around it. Not sure how much will shield it from wind once all the leaves drop. Do you wait and add the mulch after the ground freezes?

Linaria - Ahh…it flowers on old wood! That makes total sense. And now I remember when mine flowered in the house, the flowers were in the middle of the plant not the top where the new growth was. Just like Floral’s photo.

Definitely has good drainage it’s on the top of an elevation. But how do you protect from winter sun, when you usually grow it in full sun?

Floral - thanks for that photo! I have been using mine and still cutting off the soft growth. I guess I should stop cutting it now and let it ripen.

Sherry - Thank you for that information about ‘Arp’ . Who knew?! Lol Well, we’ll try it out this year and see how it does. With a good mulch.

I really didn't expect there to be this much interest in Rosemary. [g] Surprise. :-)

I lkie to grow rosemary, but have no place in the house over the winter. I had one before that lasted several years in a big clay pot on my east facing patio. Any rosemary I have replaced it with just doesn't last.

Rosemary is Yummy!

Last winter I watched a deer eat my rosemary. I didn't even open a window and yell at it because the poor thing must've been starving.

I add mulch in the fall as I get fallen leaves for it. I have a lot of trees so that is great. I do try to wait till a good dry day to do it since damp leaves are a PITA to deal with. Right now it's nice during the day but we are quickly getting to frost nights soon so I try to get some mulch on before too many frosts hit. Our first hard freeze for air is usually around mid-October and the mulch is on before that. Our ground does not freeze till we are a good month or so into winter, far too late for mulching.

If you feel you need to shelter the plant more... use a tomato cage big enough to leave a little room around it and wrap it in burlap, including the top. Then mound up some leaves around that, leaving the top portion of the cage unmulched so the plant can breathe and get in some winter light. Don't use a styrofoam rose cloche- they work great, but on a total dormant plant. Rosemary goes dormant, but still needs some air and light like a lot of other evergreens.

I grew rosemary from seed one year and gave a plant of it to a coworker, who btw, is NOT a gardener and lives in a condo. I told her it would not survive the winter outside and assumed she would treat it as an annual, as I did. Months later, in February or so of the following year, I came to find that her plant was alive and well, living in a pot in HER BATHROOM! A bathroom with no windows!

Sigh. Add this to things that make me doubt my gardening skills, like gorgeous gardens at gas stations and petunias in glorious bloom at a supermarket parking lot while mine die a slow death, or my neighbors with roses blooming in shade and hostas thriving in hot dry sun....

My post is probably of no help, PM2, but I wanted to at least illustrate that maybe overwintering in the house might work out better than you might think lol...

:)

Dee

Sherry, Sorry you haven’t been able to keep a rosemary! Hope you have other favorites that work out. :-)

MGallica - I love it too! And I’ve read that it has nutrients that support methylation, very important for staying healthy. I add it to smoothies I wonder how others use it?

Cecily - Awww…. You did a good deed. See, maybe you grew that rosemary just for that deer to have something to eat when other plants were not available.

BeesNeeds - Thanks for those recommendations. I would have tried to wait until the ground freezes, but…you’re right, it has been pretty late before our ground freezes here too.

The Rosemary has been planted at the front of a bed of peppers and there are already tomato cages there. So I should be able to set something up. Not very much in the way of leaves yet, but I have some leaf mulch/grass clippings still left from last year that I can use.

Dee - That was a good story to share as encouragement…lol. In a windowless bathroom?! That’s really a riot. I understand how odd it feels when you are working hard to figure out all the right things to do to grow beautiful plants and then you see someone who grows well with little effort.

I have an example for you though. There is always going to be the lucky few who just stumble into healthy plants, but I remember when I first became a grower. I wouldn’t consider myself a gardener at that point. My Mom and I both enjoyed growing houseplants and both loved Gardenias. We were just beginning and depending on luck more than anything, and we killed a few gardenia. [g] So, I spent months researching every detail that would help produce blooms in the house and finally we had success. So it was just learning all I could learn and paying attention to details. It did pay off. So if you’re not lucky, you can choose at least one favorite plant and figure all the details out and have success. Just takes the time, that I know you don’t always have…lol. Anyway, I'm sure you have lots of success in your garden, we've all seen the photos!

Rosemary can be rather unreliable in colder winters with the freeze-thaw cycle and if you're desperate to retain some, I'd probably pot up a few at least for the safety and heavily mulch the others outside.

Yes, I've learned my lesson, next fall, I'm potting some up for the house. :-)