The illustrated growing guide
Salvia rosmarinus
Family Lamiaceae
Est. zones 6-10
Arp is hardier, but in MO winters, a sheltered spot (south wall) is best.
Full Sun
Low water
Moderate growth
Attracts bees
From the print shop
Our Christmas Botanicals collection carries rosemary — Salvia rosmarinus, print Nº 16, “Rosemary Tree.”
16 designsfrom $21.99white or black groundmatte poster, unframed
I
Will rosemary suit your garden, and what goes wrong.
Will it fruit where you are?
Enter your ZIP — we look up your USDA hardiness zone (2023 map) and check it against what rosemary actually needs.
Hardy inZones 6-10
II
Light, water, soil, propagation and the season’s jobs.
Field-tested instructions for every job rosemary asks of you, compiled from university extension guidance — in the order the season brings them.
Water only after the soil has gone dry
Once a plant is established in the ground, let the rain do the work and skip supplemental watering except in a real drought. Water containers only when the top of the mix is dry to the touch, and never leave a saucer standing full. Rosemary wants light, sandy, sharply drained soil and its roots rot in ground that stays wet, so waterlogging kills far more plants than drought does.
Trim lightly once the flowers fade, never into bare wood
As the last flowers drop, trim the soft leafy growth back to shape the plant, taking no more than a third of it. Always cut where leaves are still attached and stop short of the bare brown wood below. Rosemary breaks poorly from old wood, so a stem cut back past its leaves has nothing left to resprout from, and an old straggly plant is better replaced than cut hard.
Check overwintered plants for spider mites and whitefly
Every couple of weeks indoors, turn some shoots over and look for fine webbing, stippled or speckled leaves, and small flying insects. Rinse an infestation off in the sink and open up the air circulation rather than reaching for a spray. Low winter light and dry indoor heat stress the plant, and thrips, aphids, whiteflies, mealybugs and spider mites build up quickly on foliage you intend to eat.
Get tender rosemary under cover before the first frost
In zone 7 and colder, move container plants indoors two to three weeks before your first frost and set them in a cool south-facing window with good air circulation and a clay pot that dries fast. Site in-ground plants in a sheltered spot out of the winter wind, mulch the roots, and drape fleece over them when a hard freeze is forecast. The species is only reliably hardy in zones 8 to 10, and even the hardy cultivars need a slow autumn hardening-off before they can take a hard freeze.
Cut the drying harvest as the flower buds form
When the flower buds have swelled but before they open, cut the leafy shoot tips for drying, taking no more than a third of the plant at once. Hang the bundles upside down somewhere warm, dark and airy, then strip the dry leaves into an airtight jar. The volatile oils that carry rosemary's flavor peak in the leaves as the plant comes into bud, so foliage cut once the blossoms open is noticeably weaker.
III
What rosemary asks for, month by month.
BloomPruneHarvestWhat each band means
The rosemary year as text
These are the species' typical months — expect them a few weeks earlier in warm zones and later in cold ones. Watch the plant, not just the calendar.
IV
What it does for the garden, and what it is grown for.
✓ Commonly eaten
Year-round (lightly).
Edibility, identification, and traditional-use notes here are general reference — not medical or veterinary advice, and not a claim that any plant treats or prevents anything. Medicinal ratings record how strongly a plant features in herbal tradition, nothing more. Never eat or dose a plant you have not positively identified. More on how to use this library.
V
Named varieties of rosemary, ruled as a catalogue.
8 on file
Named varieties of rosemary differ in winter-chill needs, ripening time, hardiness, and whether they set fruit on their own — pick one that fits your climate.
The benchmark winter-hardy rosemary, holding in zone 7 and in zone 6b with protection. Needs a slow autumn hardening-off to make it through a hard freeze.
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Grouped with the hardy uprights that hold in zone 7 and zone 6b with protection. Denser and greener than Arp.
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Listed among the cultivars that tolerate zone 7, or zone 6b with winter protection.
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One of the hardier uprights, tolerating zone 7 or zone 6b with protection. A long-established cultivar often grown as a clipped hedge.
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Strong upright thick stems that can reach 7 feet or more. Not among the hardy group, so treat it as a container plant north of zone 8.
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Leaves are roughly double the size of ordinary rosemary, which makes stripping a cooking harvest much faster. Not a hardy cultivar.
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Called the best-looking of the prostrate rosemaries. Like the other creepers it sits outside the hardy group, so overwinter it indoors north of zone 8.
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A trailing ground-cover rosemary. Outside the hardy group, so it needs container culture north of zone 8.
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VI
Where the care distinctions come from, and how the plant is filed.
Research basis
No extension citations are attached to rosemaryyet. The care figures below come from the library's own catalogue rather than a traced primary source.
VII
Third-party nurseries — not Story Thyme Farms.
Third-party nurseries, not Story Thyme Farms. Prices are theirs.
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
VIII
Rosemary questions, answered straight.
Rosemary is commonly eaten and isn't considered toxic, but "commonly eaten" isn't a guarantee for any particular person or animal — allergies, quantity, and which part you eat all matter. Never eat a plant you haven't positively identified, and check with a vet before letting pets or livestock graze anything new.
Year-round (lightly).
Seed (stratify), cuttings, or layering.
IX
Where rosemary sits in the library.
Comfrey
Lavender
Anise Hyssop
Echinacea