Rosemary is relatively easy to grow, it’s a good choice for any home herb garden. Its pungent flavor & pine like scent make rosemary a popular ingredient in foods, the upright varieties are best for both fresh & dried use.

Rosemary can be grown as an annual or perennial in herb gardens, it is often planted along with thyme, oregano, sage, and lavender. When planting chose a variety that is suitable to the climate, soil, and desired use.

ROSEMARY VARIETIES: –

• Dancing waters
• Golden Rai
• Pine scented
• Pink
• Spice islands
• Upright
• White Pine
• Arp

CONTAINER SELECTION: –

                          Rosemary can be grown in pots of size 10-12 inches depth and suitable wide.

CLIMATE and SOIL SUITABLE: –

Rosemary needs minimum sunlight of 5-6 hours; it grows best in Full sunlight.

Most varieties grow best in well good humus containing soil with a PH of 6-7.

You can prepare soil using red soil, Cocopeat, Vermicompost and other Nutrients Good in organic matter, which is very light weight and more porous.

PLANTING: –

                   Rosemary is basically drought resistant and if healthy enough can tolerate a light freeze, it is most successful when grown from cuttings or transplants, although seeds is readily available & Usually inexpensive, its germination rate is usually only about 15%.

   The best way to propagate rosemary is by taking a cutting from an already gowned plant.

1. Clip a 3-inch branch from the stem of the plant
2. Trim off most of the lower leaves to 1.5 inches up the stem.
3. Plant one or two cuttings into a 3-inches pot
4. water the cutting
5. Place the pot in a windowsill with indirect sunlight and temperature between 60⁰ & 70⁰F
6. After about 8 weeks the cutting will be rooted and ready for transplanting to their permanent location.

FERTILIZING: –

                  Rosemary needs fertilizer but if growth is slow or the plant appears, stunted on pale yellow, apply fertilizer in early spring before new growth appears. To prevent leaf burning avoid applying fertilizer directly into the plant.

WATERING: – Too much water can cause root rot, sometimes it can be different to determine when a rosemary plant needs water because its needles do not wilt as broad leaves, do on average water rosemary every 1 to 2 weeks depends on the plant size & Climate conditions. Allow the plants to dry out thoroughly between each watering.

HOW TO MAKE ROSEMARY TEA: –

            Rosemary tea is very easy to make at home & Only two Ingredients are required to make tea

           1. Water

           2. Rosemary

1. To make rosemary tea Bring 10 Ounces of water to a boil
2. Add 1 teaspoon of loose rosemary leaves to the hot water, alternatively place the leaves in a tea infuser & Steep them for 5-10 mins depending on how flavorful you like your tea.
3. Strain the rosemary leaves from the hot water using a mesh strainer with small holes or remove them from the tea infuser, you can discard the used rosemary leaves.
4. Pour your rosemary tea into a mug & Enjoy you can add a sweetener, such as sugar or honey or agave, syrup if you like.

USES OF ROSEMARY: –

• Improve Brain growth
• Repels Certain bugs
• Eases Stress
• Increases Circulation
• Reduce Joint Inflammation

Key Words: – Rosemary, Herbs, Garden, Flavor, Soil, Climate, Acidic, PH, Sunlight, Organic Matter, Compost, Germination, Propagate, Infuser, Sweetener, Syrup, Honey.

Write-up by:-Dakshayini.s(B.Sc.(CBZ))