Rosemary - outdoor cultivation

Many experienced gardeners and amateurs grow a variety of herbs - both in the garden and on the windowsill in pots. Along with the usual dill, parsley, basil and thyme, rosemary is also gaining popularity. Is it possible to grow this European spice in Russia and how to do it?

What does rosemary look like, which family does it belong to?

First of all, it is important to remember how the name of the culture is spelled correctly: razmarine or rosemary. Only rosemary, and nothing else.

This plant is shrubby, its homeland is the Mediterranean, more precisely - the western part, where this grass grows practically like a weed - everywhere. Places with hot summers, such as Crimea, Krasnoyarsk - especially to his liking. It grows well in Ukraine as well.

Rosemary is a shrub of amazing beauty

The Lamiaceae family, which includes the various types of rosemary, belongs to a large genus called Rosemary. In Latin, the name of the plant sounds like Rosmarinus officinalis.

The shrubs of the plant are formed from long shoots, which become woody over time. The leaves are lanceolate, with folded edges, dark green above and white-silver below, with a strong and bright spicy aroma. Many people cannot say what rosemary smells like, as its smell simultaneously captures notes of needles, eucalyptus, resin, camphor and lemon. The taste of young shoots and leaves is pungent, with a bitter aftertaste.

An adult rosemary bush in optimal climatic conditions can reach a height of three meters. However, there are two main types of this plant, which differ in the description: those that grow upward, and those that are creeping, expanding in breadth. In central Russia, rosemary bushes behave more modestly, and their average size is about 70 cm in height and width.

The root system is highly branched, extending up to two meters into the soil.

Briefly about the history of appearance

So what is rosemary and what are its uses? This plant became famous many centuries ago. According to some legends, it owes the sky-blue color of its flowers to the Virgin Mary, who put her cloak on the bush to protect the baby Jesus from the heat of the sun. According to other legends, the reason for the appearance of rosemary flowers was drops of sea foam, in which the goddess of love and beauty was born - Aphrodite from the Greeks and Venus from the Romans.

Since ancient times, rosemary sprigs have been put into the hands of the dead to brighten their way to the kingdom of shadows - in Egypt. It was also added to the bridal bouquet, they decorated the wedding dresses of the newlyweds and gave small bouquets of rosemary branches to guests in medieval Europe.

Dried spice leaves and fresh shoots are used in cooking

The use of rosemary in cooking

Today, this spice is confidently winning the hearts of gourmets from all over the world: the question of where to add rosemary gets a lot of answers. The dried leaves go well with fish and meat, as well as many stewed or baked vegetables. Ready meals are also garnished with fresh leaves and shoots.

Most often, the herb is added a few minutes before the end of cooking to create an interesting accent in the dish. Otherwise, there is a risk of interrupting the aroma and taste of the ingredients themselves.

Medicinal properties of rosemary

The herb has good anti-inflammatory and wound healing properties, as well as normalizes blood pressure at low values, has a beneficial effect on the nervous system and relieves headaches. Broths of rosemary are used for colds, stomach diseases, as well as a choleretic and diuretic. Thanks to these properties, it is useful to collect and dry rosemary to replenish your home medicine cabinet.

Growing rosemary in the Middle Lane

It is known that rosemary is a thermophilic plant, so many gardeners have a question: how to plant rosemary if there is practically no sun in the country?

Rosemary: where to plant in the garden

Before planting a plant, you need to decide on whether the rosemary will be a perennial or an annual? The plant itself is perennial, but it is not always possible to provide it with wintering conditions or to transplant, so sometimes it is grown for only one season. In the Moscow region and in regions with cold winters in general, this is an annual plant.

Planting rosemary should be with care of the seedling

In any case, it is important to remember that the spice loves the sun and warmth, does not tolerate temperature extremes, cold weather and an abundance of moisture. Therefore, the best place where you can plant it will be the southern or eastern side, well illuminated by the sun. It is best to plant shrubs along the southern side of the house - it will protect the plant from strong winds, and a light pleasant aroma will reign in the rooms.

It is imperative to choose a place so that water stagnation does not occur, otherwise the plant will die very quickly. Thyme, basil, laurel, dill, and parsley are good neighbors for rosemary. Some gardeners also plant it next to cucumbers and various representatives of the nightshade family, since the aroma of the plant repels pests well. But mustard and horseradish will quickly destroy their Mediterranean neighbor.

Priming

It is best to plant the spice in a permeable, sandy soil that is high in nutrients. It is important that the soil is well drained and has an acid-base balance of 6-7 units. Too acidic, as well as too alkaline soils destroy the plant.

The optimal soil can be made on your own by taking 2 parts of compost, part of lime sand and part of small stones. Instead of lime sand, you can take any other, but in this case, dolomite additives will be needed, in the amount of a couple of spoons for every 5 liters of the mixture obtained.

Top dressing

For better health and growth of the bush, it must be fed in a timely manner. The following sequence will be an ideal feeding scheme: nitrogen fertilizers are applied in spring, complex fertilizers in summer, and phosphorus fertilizers in winter. Such nutrition will allow the grass to grow well.

Pinching rosemary

Both in pots and in the garden, rosemary needs pinching to help it grow faster. Usually only young shoots are pinched (from 5 to 15 cm of the apical part). Plucked or cut rosemary sprigs can be used as a seasoning in food preparation, or for growing a new bush.

Timely pinching is the key to good growth

How rosemary reproduces

A wild plant reproduces by seeds, however, with artificial cultivation, the possibilities of its reproduction are significantly increased.

Germinating seeds

To germinate rosemary seeds, you need to take cheesecloth or cloth, moisten it and put the seeds in one layer between the layers. Remove the gauze in a warm place - the optimum temperature for germination is 20-22 ° C. It is important to ensure that the gauze does not dry out - for this you need to spray it in a timely manner from a spray bottle.

When the roots appear, the seedlings are ready. The soil must be prepared: it must be moist, but not wet. The seeds are carefully separated from the tissue - the roots are very fragile, it is important not to damage them, and are laid on the ground. From above they are covered with a layer of earth (0.5-1 cm) and the earth is moistened with a spray bottle. The container with earth is covered with a lid or polyethylene, leaving several holes for ventilation, and wait for the first shoots.

As soon as the first shoots appear, it is necessary to remove the lid or polyethylene and expose the container to the sun - this will allow the shoots to gain strength and grow faster. After the appearance of two or three true leaves, the seedlings are transplanted into individual containers. If you plan to plant rosemary in the open ground in spring, then it is better to start germinating the seeds from mid-to-late February, since the plant sprouts for a long time, even if you take good care of it.

Rooting cuttings

An easier way is to root cuttings. To do this, you need to cut off a stalk about 10-15 cm long from the bush. Tear off all the leaves from the bottom and place the cuttings in a container with water. After about 3 days, the first roots will appear, and after a week they can be planted in the soil.

Propagation by cuttings is the easiest way to breed rosemary

Air layering

The method of air layering is used most often on trees. In the case of rosemary, the method will be more experimental. To do this, you need to carefully remove the top layer of bark from the stiff part of the shoot, about 20-30 cm from the top. Then, shelter the area from sunlight and surround it with warm, damp earth or moss. When the roots begin to grow actively, this part of the shoot is separated from the main bush and planted in the ground.

Dividing the bush

An easier way would be to divide a large bush into several small ones. To do this, you need to carefully dig up the entire bush together with the roots and carefully separate the shoots with a separate root system, and then plant new bushes at a distance of at least 50 cm from each other.

Rosemary: features of growing outdoors in the Urals

If you want to have rosemary all year round, growing in the open field is not quite a suitable solution, especially in the more northern regions of the country. The plant needs a lot of sun and heat, and sudden changes in temperature or cold winters will destroy it.

That is why in the northern regions, spices are grown in pots and taken outside only in summer, when stable warm weather sets in, at least 15 ° C heat. Rosemary, thyme, and many other thermophilic plants can thus bloom and delight gardeners all year round. Moreover, this growing option will not cause trouble - you just need to transplant the plant on time as the root system grows into larger pots. Otherwise, caring for the plant will be exactly the same as when it grows in the open field.

Growing in pots is the best way for cold climates

Rosemary: features of growing outdoors in Siberia

In the case of the Urals, growing rosemary in Siberia outdoors is an extremely difficult and painstaking task that is best avoided.

Of course, some gardeners prefer to plant the spice for only one summer. Others plant the shrubs in the ground when the heat is stable, and then transplant them back into the pots in the fall. It is also a good option for growing rosemary, however its fragile roots do not always survive such frequent changes of residence.

How to grow rosemary at home on a windowsill from seeds

Growing spices at home is not difficult: you need to germinate the seeds in this way, plant the seedlings in separate containers, and as they grow, instead of open ground, transplant the plants into larger pots.

Due to its properties and variety of uses, rosemary is increasingly becoming a plant grown on windowsills. The main thing is that he has enough sunlight - then he will delight with a rich aroma and bright color.