state of the rosemary trials

Overall: not much bloom compared to the rosemary grown in California, but Gorizia and Blue Spires are showing some promise this year. Irene: dead, but it was planted in a pot. It survived until the erratic weather of late winter. I expect that it would do fine planted in the ground in a sheltered spot. Severn Seas: dead, even though it is supposed to be one of the hardier of the prostrate forms. This one turned brown at the first freeze, so it's not very hardy. The prostrate forms seem to do fine in lower elevation parts of town, but I don't see any that do well in my neck of the woods. Fortunately, I'm not very fond of the prostrate forms.

Blue Spires does indeed have very nice deep (for a rosemary) blue flowers and an upright form. Flowers have a pale stripe down the center. It is slower growing than the plain species, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. It does not form a dense bush, but rather upright sculptural stems or "spires." There are lots of buds on this plant despite winter tip damage, so maybe in the next few weeks it will make a better showing. It's planted against a north wall, which would suggest that hardiness is quite good, but when things are planted on the north wall of a courtyard with a south facing aspect, the overall effect is to moderate the temperature swings that we get. Plants seem to benefit from the warmth accumulated by the south wall, but don't get the dramatic rise and fall of temperature, nor the dehydration of direct sunlight. So plants can be hardier on the protected north wall than on a south wall.



Gorizia has flowers that have a significant amount of pink in them, making them more of a lavender or even pinkish lavender than blue. Flowers seem to change color as they age. They would show better against a dark background such as a dark-stained fence or with dark evergreens behind. The flowers and leaves are supposed to be about double the size of normal rosemary, and although they are certainly larger, one-and-a-half is closer to the truth in my yard. The upright form is sculptural, like Blue Spires, yet a little bolder with its bigger leaves. Like Blue Spires, Gorizia had some tip burn from the winter, planted against a south facing wall. This is not necessarily a benefit to the hardiness of a plant, since it makes the temperatures vary more: higher in the day, but just as cold at night. Gorizia bloomed very nicely in late summer last year, and has lots of buds now, but I've been waiting for them to open for weeks now. Maybe soon.



Frimley Blue was planted in a pot. Over the summer it produced a few very pale blue/white flowers with darker spots. It was overwintered under the porch overhang and survived quite well. Under the open sky, who knows? The flowers this spring are much bluer, and it retains the spots. It seems to be a bit bushier than Blue Spires, and almost as dark flowers. I'm impressed. It seems to bloom only on the tips of the stems, but this may change if I give it more sunlight and as the plant gets larger.



Salem is a rosemary that is known for its hardiness in the northwest. It's supposed to have very bright violet-blue flowers. Although planted on a West wall, which increases the temperature swings that are harmful to plants, this plant survived nearly unscathed - one tip burned. This is better performance than Arp, which always survived winter, but with the tips of all its leaves burned - but, interestingly, not tip burn (the thing I didn't like about Arp was its weak growth habit needing yearly pruning, and inconspicuous pale blue flowers on grey leaves - but if it did grow rapidly). Salem hasn't bloomed for me this year. Perhaps it will give me a summer bloom, or perhaps it will take a year or two, as some do. Tuscan Blue, planted in this same spot, was removed because even though it grew well (suffering only tip burn from winter) it barely flowered. I'll have to try some cuttings of Salem in other parts of the garden, or in a pot.


This noid rosemary was purchased by Will a few years back, and has bloomed so profusely in his yard, both early spring and in summer, that I had to take a cutting and trial it in my yard. His plants are grown against a south facing, wind-protected brick wall, so his plants bloom just about as heavily as the plants I remember from California. My cutting is two years old, and produced no flowers at all this spring. Although young plants can go without flowering, I seem to remember Will's plants blooming strongly even when small. My plant suffered just a bit of tip burn from winter (as did Will's). It's planted against a south-facing wall. Will's plants are about four feet tall with bushy multi-branching habit and wide-spreading branches from the ground. Flowers are a pale blue, not as dark as I usually prefer, but lovely en masse.

Will's plant this year: