The Rosemary Who Became a Houseplant
I brought in one of my Rosemary plants the morning we had our first snow. I have never had much luck keeping a rosemary plant alive indoors through the winter, but I’m going to give this one a try.
Right now I have it in our laundry room, which doesn’t have any direct heat vents, and stays between 55-60` F through the winter. I’ve repotted it, since it was in a large planter outside with several other plants. It’s in a sunny north window. I was thinking about taking it upstairs, where it’s even cooler, and no direct heat, but I’m afraid I’ll forget about it.
I don’t know what variety it is, I purchased three rosemary plants in the spring, but didn’t keep any of their tags. This one seems to be the hardiest of the bunch, since he survived a couple killer frosts (that killed the other two plants) before I brought him in.
If anyone has had any luck with growing rosemary through the winter, please jump in and post your advice in the comment section. So far the plant looks good. I gave him a good soak of water the first day (but didn’t let the plant stand in water), and I’ve been giving him a light water spritz with a spray bottle once a day. We’ll see how it goes.
Image (c) L Gerlach
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POSTED IN: Herbs, Houseplants
6 opinions for The Rosemary Who Became a Houseplant
Tomato Lady
Nov 19, 2008 at 1:17 pm
The first few years I grew my rosemary in a pot, bringing it in each winter. Eventually (what with regular eggshell shakes and nice hot summers) it became too big to lug in and out and I planted it outside. Many years later and many pretty decent freezes, too, it is huge and unaffected by cold. Perhaps the secret was letting it get fair-sized before it took up permanent outdoor residency, or maybe it is just a hardy cultivar. I have heard var. Arp is very cold-hardy, but like you, I don’t know the name of mine. Hope you have good luck with yours.
linette
Nov 19, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Thanks Tomato Lady, this one made it through a couple hard frosts, and was still beautiful and green. I love the scent, and flavor of rosemary, so I had to give it a try indoors:) If it makes it through the winter I may plant it out next summer and leave it there to see how it does.
Melissa
Nov 20, 2008 at 9:14 am
Our rosemary’s center stalk(?) is now very woody and like a tree. It’s incredibly hardy and I’ve never had to move it inside. I couldn’t now, we have to hack it back all the time. This past year I gave a huge bunch to our CSA farmer to hand out with the shares because I felt like it was too wonderful to compost.
Greg W
Nov 22, 2008 at 5:14 am
Thank you for posting this Linette, I have been formulating plans of expanding my very young herb garden, I already have raised bed in place with a couple of Lavender and Monarda. Most everything else are annuals. I like the idea of having a perennial herb garden and I you helped convince me that Rosemary would fit the bill. I’m placing a seed order for next year and will now add Rosemary. Thank-you.
Diana
Nov 27, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Where we live in Ohio, it gets to cold for the Rosemary to over winter. My sister in law in Virginia has a lovely large plant(bush) in her yard that is growing so nicely that I am jealous of. I have only been able to keep rosemary alive through the winter in my basement, under lights and that was only one winter. I think I don’t have the right touch when it comes to Rosemary.
Linette
Nov 27, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Greg- Glad I could help.
Diane- So far my Rosemary’s doing ok, I’ve thought about putting it under lights, but I’d like it to go a little dormant for the winter. I keep spritzing it with water to keep it from getting too dry. Mine may be a one winter thing too, we’ll see how it goes:-)
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