Since Rosemary is tender in Zone 5 I potted up my one Rosemary plant and brought it indoors recently.
I did this once before with a potted Rosemary Topiary I had and it dried up and died even though I thought I was watering it enough. Its in an east window and the room is not overly hot during the winter.
Any tips for wintering Rosemary indoors appreciated.
My English friends tell me that rosemary only survives in a house where the woman is in control. That said, I've had so-so luck with rosemary myself. Probably your best bet would be to take cuttings from the plant you have, cut it back and dry the leaves for winter seasonings. I have one cutting started and am thinking I probably should get a couple more. We've had passable temps lately, so I haven't been in a hurry, but I know it's coming. My herbs are near enough to the house that the frosts we have had have missed them.
Also, I'm going to give the plant a heavy mulch and see what happens. It is in a spot that gets a good heavy snow cover. Nothing like trying to push the envelope.
Kathleen, I always heard that the SIZE of the rosemary would tell you who is in control of the house. My rosemary's have always been huge... the last 3 were 4-5 feet tall, and at least that wide. They had either a stone or concrete wall behind or near them for some winter warmth from the sun. Pushed the zone here, LOL.
I'm never successful at their survival when bringing one inside.
I, too, have no luck bringing them in. I'm wondering if it would be more successful if one hardened them 'in', just as we harden 'off' plants we take outdoors... that is, a gradual acclaimation to the indoors, rather than waiting to bring them in when there is danger of a freeze. Otherwise, one could start the seed indoors and never take it out. Either way, you'd need a very good indoor light source, I think.
CottageRose, I always harden my Rosemary "in" as Weezingreens suggested. I leave it in my unheated mudroom for several weeks, and then gradually get it used to the warmer, drier, indoor temps. Once my plant is accustomed to indoor living, all it takes is a little misting once or twice a week, and a good watering every now and then, and it's ready to go back outside in the spring. The trick is to not let it get too dried out. I keep mine in the same room as my woodstove, and it's always survived.
Just a note about the cuttine - it took right off. There was a little tip drop, but it is putting out new leaves and looking quite healthy.
Mine does great indoors - in fact, it's never seen the great outdoors! It lives on a plant stand in the sunroom and is going on 2 years old!
Good luck!
So, it sounds like the secret is aclimation. If the poor little devils never know what the big wide wonderful world is, they do just fine in the house. "How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen pareeeeeee!"
Hey, they can look out the windows!
Kinda sad isn't it... their little needle-like leaves pressed against the window pane.
LOL - They certainly seem to understand when the snow flies! Funny thing, though. When I bought the little seedling there was a tiny "weed" in the pot. It was cute so I left it. Now I have a 6 foot wandering jew dangling around the outside of the pot and the Rosemary growing strong and tall on the inside. I love it when they bring their friends!
I think my indoor rosemary died pining away for the summer that never came. Or it could have been the drought in the plant room - rain rain all around and nary a sprinkle through the month of July in the plant room. It was proabably pounding on the glass hoping to break through into the rain! In my defense, I was in Kentucky for at least part of that month (5 days) visiting my brand new grandson.
The outdoor rosemary did fine (it had the rain all to itself) and now has an offspring in the plant room.
Were there little brown rosemary needles in the window sill, Kathleen? I must have killed two or three rosemary plants by neglecting the water. All my other house plants have just resigned themselves to fiest or famine.
It was a brave little plant, it held on to its dry little leaves to the bitter end. The lavender next to it, however, drooped and sighed through the whole ordeal! Houseplants have no part of my attention in the summer!
Yes! Same here. It's a wonder I have a house plant left by fall.
Mine have that problem at this time of year. I always have to retrain myself on watering techniques when the seasons change - hmmmm, would that be more water or less water once the heat's on - too much to remember. And just to be a wise guy, when I got home last night I notices that half of the Rosemary was dried and ready for the grinder - fine! We'll have fresh and dried! (The wandering jew is quite content, though!)
Kathleen - don't you be hurting those babies, now! Too funny!
I'm hoping my plant survives. Looks like some of you have managed.
Does misting it help?
Absolutely! I put the ceiling fan on for them a bit every day, too. I think it helps to simulate the ourdoors a bit. Or I could just be nuts...
I need to get a little clip on fan - there's a corner of the table that doesn't get any air movement. Yeesh, it's all so easy when they're outside!
I bought a little clip on fan at K-Mart for $9 - works fabulously in my tiny little bathroom. Fortunately evey other room in the house has ceiling fans! The plants seem to respond well to the air circulation.
I mist mine about once a week, I take mine to work I have more windows there,, but if its dry in the office I mist more,, that way she dont dry out even with watering ..and I do have a fan to move the air more !! with doing all that I can get mine to flower over the winter,,
Is a rosemary a Mediterranean type? I would think it might prefer lots of sun, not too much water and an occasional English tourist in order to stay healthy. Having never had one survive the winter before, I am pleased that this year my rosemary is still alive (upstate NY and below zero outside).
I have three sons but no woman in the house...not sure what difference this makes to the rosemary but perhaps she thinks I belong to her. All she has is lots of ferns for friends but can look out the window at the squirells and wait for spring. Like me. I will place her next to a fine tomato plant.
May they be very happy together - LOL!
My Rosemary was headed into year 4 when the Blizzard Hit last weekend and blew the back door open...Ms. Rosemary is not fond of SNOW or single digit temps! Boo, Hoo! I'm still hoping I can salvage the back half of the pot. We'll see, I guess!
Congrats to you!
I've got to give this wintering over rosemary thing another try.
I don't really use much Rosemary, but I am totally enamored of the way it looks against the winter sky when the sun is shining through the big windows. (Weird enough reason to grow an herb???) I've never tried grwoing it outside. Of all the herbs, I think Rosemary and Mint do the best indoors. I've been having a devil of a time with my cilantro, and my basil does not want to take this year. Last year it was awesome. I'm thinking that the temps are that much colder this year and the Basil won't tolerate the cold drafts??? I never give up, though. Next thing you know it will be Spring and we'll be off and running again!
I don't really use much Rosemary, but I am totally enamored of the way it looks against the winter sky when the sun is shining through the big windows. (Weird enough reason to grow an herb???) I've never tried grwoing it outside. Of all the herbs, I think Rosemary and Mint do the best indoors. I've been having a devil of a time with my cilantro, and my basil does not want to take this year. Last year it was awesome. I'm thinking that the temps are that much colder this year and the Basil won't tolerate the cold drafts??? I never give up, though. Next thing you know it will be Spring and we'll be off and running again!
glad I'm not the only one who "kills' Rosemary trying to bring it inside.
I really try but I'm like weezingreens - my houseplants have to get used to feast or famine and actually one I've had since 1997 seems to be dying and needing to be repotted. I hope I can save it because it was from my mom's funeral.
I have wanted Rosemary for years and never managed to get one - someone (feel bad I forgot who) here on DG traded w/me last July and sent me a HUGE batch of Rosemary cuttings - they arrived as I was headed out the door for four days at the lake. When I came home I couldn't believe how wonderful the house smelled!! WOW!!!!! I tried many things - planted some outside, rooted some in water... Guess there is hope (a wee bit) that the outside ones will emerge in the Spring (probly not, tho, huh?) and I know you'll all get a kick out of me keeping one STICK in water for going on eight months now. No sign of life at all. But surely there's that wee bit of HOPE!!!! I have a bowl w/the dead sticks of other tries that I sniff whenever I need a boost. WOW I love the smell!!!!!!!!!
I'm not sure how you can get them to grow Tam Tam, but i am nuts about the smell too. I use rosemary in many dishes, especially where you take some French braed, slice it in half lengthwise and pile on chppped fresh tomatoes, a little olive oil, grated romano cheese and fresh chopped rosemary and some thyme, grill briefly and wow.
So far my rosemary looks like it might make it through the winter...but it is not happy about it as some of the lower needles have dried and fallen off. They are not too expensive though to buy in the spring at your local garden nursery. I paid about 15$ for a good sized pot, which doubled in size last summer and had to be repotted. Now the pot is huge (about a five gallon terracota pot) and it will break my back to get it back out there when the weather warms up.
Fortunately the thyme is quite happy getting lost under the snow and ice and just seems to come back like gangbusters in the spring. I plant the thyme for the smell when I brush up to it, unintentionally tread on it and for its ability to spread well. Someone should work on making a hardy rosemary that will overwinter up here in polar bear country.
Oh, yum! WOW is right! That sounds soooo good! I know what I'm having for lunch - LOL!
If you collect the Rosemary as it dries and put it in a grinder, it's excellent as a rub or in sauces, too! I lost half of my 3 year old plant a coule of weeks ago when the blew open during the night and it got snowed on. The other side is coming back nicely, though.
That does sound good!
I just potted up my rooted cutting. I got a couple of nice clay pots when we were in Kentucky last fall, and put it in the smaller of the two - still big enough that I'm out of potting soil. It was an aromatic morning, I potted the two Lavandula stoecas that I'd started in one 4 inch pot into two 6 inch pottery pots and then the rosemary.
I'll be inerested to see what comes of my parent plant. I cut it down almost to the ground, put two large rocks that formed a pot of sorts around it and then buried it in bark mulch. There was one green stem that shot up above the rocks and waved even through the snow until early January. We haven't had the constant snow cover we often do, but it has been quite protected. Only time will tell.
Ooooh, good luck Kathleen - the green stem shows how much rosey wants to LIVE!!! ...any hints about how you rooted that cutting? Sequee - do you mean put the leaves in a grinder? Not the stems, right? (All I have is stems, alas, but they do sure smell good!)
Sorry - oldseed mentioned that the lower leaves dried and fell off, and I was referring to those - I'm still cracking up about your twigs, though! E'er the optimist, eh!? Good for you. Ya just never know. Besides, as long as they smell good...
Tam Tam, I used a rooting gel on the cutting. This is the first year that I've used gel, and I can really recommend it - I think I had about a 75% success rate with it, and oddly, all the cuttings that I really wanted to root, did! I have to be honest, I've never had a rosemary cutting not root. With me, its after they establish themselves that the trouble starts, and it has nothing to do with the plant, just the caretaker!
Kathleen - were you using powder before and changed to gel, or not using anything before?
I used powder before, and had about a 50-50 chance, about the same without rooting hormone. I think the gel really does work better as it clings to the cutting. Th powder always seemed to fall off. I got the gel form Lee Valley Tools:
http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/199/
Thanks! I really think the powder does a good job, but if the gel is better - Whoo-hoo! It's on my shopping list!
I have heard that Rosemary doesn't like wet feet... but I still can't get it to grow inside no matter what I do. However, I did keep one alive outside this past summer, which was a miracle.
Try putting rosemary on the grill... then putting fish on top of it or chicken.
I have a great recipe for Rosemary Chicken Stew that we love - and it goes in the crockpot. I'll post it in the recipes forum.
Enjoy!
Love, hugs and blessings,
Janie
Gotta admit I have the Rosemary Fever now. Might just break down and buy one this Spring - after I'm sure none of the sticks in the gardens survived! Hmmm, I might just be posting pictures of mystery plants that might be Rosemary!!! Spring is SO CLOSE!!!!! Wheeeee!
Oldseed, thank you for your recipe. My granddaughter needed an Italian recipe for Girl Scouts, and I took liberties with your's. I titled it Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, changed the thyme to basil and offered a choice of Italian cheeses. She thought it sounded great - I think maybe she and her mom will be making that for dinner sometime soon. Her brother didn't sound thrilled - anything that mixes vegetables with food he likes (the sandwich group, without the crunchy stuff) is suspiciuos.
