You’ve seen those cute rosemary Christmas trees at your local florist, supermarket and retail stores. They look like a perfect holiday hostess gift. And then you pick up a plant, inhale, and envision snipping off bits of the herb and baking fragrant rosemary focaccia.
Rosemary trees – the perfect holiday hostess gift!
But hold the shopping cart: Will that tree live long enough to make a single loaf of bread?
“I’ve had clients who kill them religiously,” says Elizabeth Hoffman, owner of West End Florist, an independent garden center in Evanston, Ill., who says that indoor rosemary plants tend to die at the end of March. “The plant is already stressed,” she says, noting low-light levels and dry indoor conditions, common in Midwest winters, make the plant susceptible to powdery mildew fungi.
Hoffman has come up with a few easy tips to keep rosemary trees alive:
At the end of January, begin spraying your rosemary tree every two weeks with horticultural oil. Depending on your preference, it can be organic, such as fish, soybean or canola oil (advised if you’re planning on cooking with your rosemary) or non-organic, such as petroleum-based oil. She suggests taking the plant into the bathtub and completely coating it, making sure to wipe up any slippery surfaces afterward. “The oil coats the plant and suffocates the spores,” Hoffman says. Keep up the routine until middle of April, she advises, and the plant should be in clear.
Yes Virginia . . .you CAN keep your adorable, edible rosemary tree alive!
Also, do not overwater. Rosemary likes to dry out between waterings.
When in doubt, think of the country the plant is from, Hoffman says. Rosemary is native to countries like Greece, and grows on rocky mountain sides, where “the water visits and runneth away.”
So, with those tips in mind, put your worries aside, and proceed to checkout with your adorable, edible tree.
I love rosemary plants for a variety of reasons, and always hesitate to buy one this time of yr.
I appreciate your tip on how to care for them this time of yr.!!!!
Love the tip. Now someone let me know how to keep potted Basil outside in Az. It can be brought inside during frosts. The leaves tend to get rusty.
Rosemary also hates to be overfertilized – especially when the days are short. I’ve had good luck keeping a potted Rosemary on the windowsill so it will get chilly at night and stay dormant. Great tip about not overwatering. Love your blog.
I have a rosemary plant that is spending its second winter inside. There is nothing like snipping fresh rosemary at home during the cold winter months. In the past couple of weeks the plant has produces some lavender flowers. It did not do that last year. Will it change the taste or potency of the herb?
Very cool that you have flowers. When I took an herb class a few years back, I was told that it’s best to harvest rosemary just before it blooms but I don’t think that it would change the taste dramatically – not as much as herbs like basil which gets bitter after it blooms.
Go ahead and cook with those flowers! Make purple-speckled herb butter by mixing the blossoms with unsalted butter, coarse salt and white pepper. Dress up a pork dish or use a flowering stem in a rosemary-infused lemonade. Or just sprinkle them in salads. Enjoy the color, which is such a treat during these drab days of winter.