Grow your own Rosemary 2010

PLANT: ‘Rosmarinus officinalis’

A hardy evergreen shrub, the leaves are traditionally used to compliment rich meat dishes, in stuffings and many Mediterranean dishes. Develops small flowers in late spring. Rosemary is a perennial and can be grown all year round. Plants will live for up to 20 years and grows to a height of around 1m.

Apparently it is easier to propagate rosemary than to grow it from seed, but I thought I’d give it a try anyway since the rosemary plant I bought last year isn’t really established enough to take any cuttings from.

 

Sow under cover:	February-May	26th Feb
Germination time:	21–35 days	12st Mar
Plant out:	April
Harvest:
Time from seed to plate:

 

SOW: Rosemary is harder to germinate than most herbs, so expect low germination rates.

GROW: Dig a hole slightly larger than the size of its pot and add a handful of sand to the bottom of the hole. Place the plant in the hole and replace the soil around it, firming gently. Water the plant well and ensure the soil does not dry out until it is established.

CARE:

HARVEST:

March 21st:

Well I finally get to do an update on the rosemary as one seed has actually sprouted! The others don’t seem to be showing any signs of making an appearance and I’m not holding out much hope. Before I bought my rosemary seeds I didn’t know that they weren’t very easy to grow, so it pays to do some research first! I suppose it makes this small success of one seed sprouting all the more sweeter!

 

 

 

 

 

 

APRIL 15TH:

My one lonely rosemary seedling is making very slow progress. It now has 4 leaves but it’s not grown any taller. As it’s going to be a while before I’ll be able to use it, I’m going to look into propagating a cutting from my existing rosemary plant which isn’t growing either!