Grow and Give Rosemary for the Holidays

Add a fresh look and fragrance to your holidays with a Rosemary topiary or tree.

You can find Rosemary at garden centers and florists sheared into the shape of a wreath, small tree or orb. Add a bow and decorative pot and you have a great holiday plant to give or enjoy in your own home.

Regular trimming will help maintain topiary forms and keep the plants producing more stems and leaves for a fuller more robust plant. Use these trimmings of tender stem tips and leaves to flavor your holiday meals. Prune out overgrown or wayward branches, remove the leaves and turn longer woody stems into skewers for kabobs.

Keep Rosemary in a cool brightly-lit location for best results. Water thoroughly as soon as the soil dries. Allowing it to go too dry or keeping the soil too wet will result in death. Pour off any excess water that collects in the saucer.

A bit more information: This evergreen perennial herb grows 4 to 6 feet tall outdoors in zones 8 and warmer. There are a few cultivars like Arp, Athens Blue Spire, and Madalene Hill that are supposed to be hardy to zone 6.