Growing Herbs in Texas - Rosemary

An Easy to Grow, Fragrant Shrub with Culinary and Medicinal Uses

Aug 18, 2009

Rosemary is a large shrub with blue or white flowers. Rosemary is easy to grow in Texas, is generally disease and insect resistant, and can be harvested all year.

Although many herbs suffer badly in Texas’ summer heat, rosemary thrives. A perennial in most of Texas, rosemary provides year around availability of a fragrant culinary and medicinal herb. Rosemary is not a demanding plant to grow—it likes full sun, light watering, mulch, and some space to grow into. Rosemary is a useful landscape plant with upright and creeping varieties available.

Rosemary in History

Rosemary originated around the Mediterranean and has been used medicinally and ceremonially since ancient times. The name rosemary is said to come from the Latin ros marinus (dew of the sea) because of its early appearance in coastal regions. In ancient Greece, rosemary was believed to aid memory. That connection continues into Shakespeare’s time as noted in his quote from Hamlet,"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance."

Ceremonial uses of rosemary acknowledge the association with memory and remembrance including its use at weddings and funerals. Karyn Siegel-Maier in her article on Remembering Rosemary offers many other fascinating tidbits from rosemary’s history.

As a medicinal, rosemary was used to treat many conditions including as a digestive aid and for the treatment of headaches, congestion, and muscle spasms. Rosemary ointment was believed to aid rheumatism, eczema, bruises, and as an antiseptic for wounds.

Growing Rosemary in Texas

Rosemary plants are available in Texas for spring planting. However, at Christmas time a gardener can also find rosemary topiaries shaped like miniature Christmas trees which can also be transplanted into the landscape after the holiday season.

The upright variety of rosemary can grow to five feet tall and spread to 6–8 feet in diameter. Creeping varieties grow closer to the ground, but will have a larger spread—as much as 8–10 feet. Rosemary likes full sun and not too much water which makes it a desirable plant for ecologically savvy gardeners. Mulch will help maintain soil moisture around a rosemary plant.

Rosemary tolerates freezing temperatures. However if the plant is going to be exposed to very cold, sustained temperatures such as occur in the Texas Panhandle, then a protective covering is needed. Other than over-watering, the only threat to rosemary comes from spider mites which can be treated with a miticide or a spray of alcohol and water.

Culinary and Medicinal Uses of Rosemary

Rosemary can be harvested any time. Just clip off a branch and remove the needles. Rosemary is an excellent seasoning for roasts, wild game, soups, and potatoes. Rosemary adds taste and fragrance to homemade bread and herbal vinegars. Skewers made from rosemary branches can be used in grilling to add flavor to shrimp, Sheskabo, chicken, or lamb.

Rosemary in your bath is invigorating. It is also used in hair-care products to produce shiny, clean hair and scalp—especially for those with dark hair. A cold compress scented with rosemary essential oil is said to help headaches.

Although not everyone is a rosemary fan—its fragrance can be over-powering—those who grow rosemary as a landscape shrub in Texas will find a hardy, easy to care for, and useful herb. Even if you do not want to cook with or bathe in rosemary, local bees will thank you for providing flowers during times of the year when little else is blooming.

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The copyright of the article Growing Herbs in Texas - Rosemary in Herb Gardens is owned by Barbara Brown. Permission to republish Growing Herbs in Texas - Rosemary in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.