rosemary

Can I dig up my rosemary and put it in a pot for the winter, we are in z 5 sw Michigan and I'm afraid it will freeze.

Annebelle, I don't know for sure but have lost mine twice over the last 10 years here in Z6. Bought 2 plants this year and plan to bring them in. Mine are in large containers and will transplant to smaller pots in about another month.

If you think it will freeze,i guess it is worth a try. Good luck
Vickie

Good drainage and good air circulation seem to be the key to overwintering rosemary indoors... it's a little hit or miss for me. Too much water, and you can encourage root rot or downy mildew, so stick your finger in the pot to test before you reach for the watering can.

Different varieties are hardy to different temperatures. I've had good luck the past several years overwintering one outside next to a big boulder that acts as a heat sink.

Thanks for the info critter. I can do that.

I've got the rocks but up here the winds are too variable and even a southern wind can freeze a plant. So inside it goes.
Vickie

I always bring my rosemary indoors for the winter here in my zone 5 garden too. I find a cool room with a sunny exposure does very well. The coolness seems to be key for me (as well as the good drainage that critter talks about). I have 3 rosemaries that I have overwintered indoors for several years and even have had them bloom indoors.

Rosemary arp is good to -10F with mulch

I think you are better off cutting, drying and using for cooking and buy another one next late spring. They just don't do well in the house.

You can keep cut stems pretty fresh a long time (3-4 weeks at least) in a vase of water, especially if you're better than I am about changing the water regularly. I even had a couple of stems strike roots once from a rosemary bouquet... turned into a plant that I managed to overwinter for several years!

I wonder if a couple of wraps of spun poly row cover (remay type stuff) would help protect rosemary plants against drying winter winds... I think I might at least try to tie mine into a sort of loosely upright bundle this year, to protect it from the weight of snow or ice. My big rosemary got really big this year -- you can hardly see the rock that's next to it, and it's over 4 feet long! A spray of anti-dessicant (wilt-pruf) such as I use on my hollies might also help.

Well I'm going to try an experiment............ I have cut stems to take into the house and put in water, but I also coveres he plant with a styorfoam cone (Rose cone) so we'll see what happens, thanks for all of the tips.

I usually grow my rosemary in a clay pot to begin with so it's very easy to bring them indoors. Actually , I bring it to work. I'm fortunate enough to have a very nice bank of west windows and my two plants seem to do pretty well sitting there. If I want rosemary I just snip it off and take it home.

Janet

I just stumbled on this thread and I thought I would add that I once read in an old gardening book that rosemary would root best in Green glass . I tried it and sure enough it rooted just fine ! those old timers didn't always have an explaination for why thing worked but they are pretty good at getting results
fyi laura

Green glass in water? Or soil?

I've lost 2 in the Winter here in supposedly 7b, Both were in the path of freezing winds, whereas the ones out of the wind are huge and entering their 5th winter in this garden. I think if you can use a loose straw mulch and winter cloth (like toy would use on shrubs) you can beat the freezing problem.

Oh, I also have Rosmarinus officinalis var. prostatus growing right out in those freezing winds, and it is often blooming even in the dead of winter! It's not bad as a kitchen herb, either.

A rosemary plant that is grown from the beginning in pots will, as others have pointed out, do well for many years, but I've never had much luck moving a garden-grown rosemary or sage into a pot after it had much size. Anyone else have experience with this?

it was in water in a green glass vase , go figure
laura

Good to know, I will give it a try just for grins. 8 ) Thanks Laura

Potagere ~ I had heard they were not real cold hardy. I planted the regular and the prostrate rosemary right near the house. A friend planted his out in the open where it catches blazing sun in summer and cold, freezing winter winds. His is a monster and mine is paltry looking.

In the Texas Hill Country, on the side of a hill, my rosemary bush gets full sun most of the day, is in a well-drained area and it's pretty big after about about 5 years.