I don't have an answer to your questions, and indeed have never heard of planting rosemary seeds, but just thought I'd mention that the darn things can get huge. I wouldn't plant them anywhere near a rose or anything else that's smaller and fragile. Your conditions may be different but mine are thugs that are planted on top of a low stone wall where they're away from anything they can bully.

Ingrid

Also rosemary likes drier conditions than roses do. The two are probably best planted apart.

Usually rosemary is grown from cuttings, not seeds. That way a grower can tell what characteristics the plants will have, tall or sprawling, degree of cold tolerance, size of leaf, even color of the flowers.

However, it sounds like a worthwhile and fun experiment. The directions for planting should be printed on the back of the seed packet as to timing, depth, and the like. Just -- not too close to the roses!

Rosefolly

mauvegirl,

While I purchase rosemary and thyme growing in one gallon pots quite inexpensively, $3 per plant, I can add that they thrive here ( hot, dry).

Lynn

You can get fairly inexpensive potted rosemarys at HD or Lowes in the herb section. They do grow well in hot weather. I was thinking of adding some to a new rose garden I'm planning. I do love the weeping kind over a wall. Plus when you need some for cooking you just go outside and clip a few. Chives are also a great growing herb that has nice blue flowers that set off roses well.

I've heard that Rosemary can be tough to grow from seed like Lavender but it isn't impossible. As they have mentioned before, Rosemary likes it dry. In fact, too dry for roses so don't plant them with roses. If you have Lavender you can plant Rosemary next to them since they both like the same conditions. Also, try asking the Herbs forum for more advice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Herbs Forums

"Buy" rosemary???? It grows wild nearly everywhere here, and I think in Texas also -- Free, free, free. Nearly as common as tumbleweeds. My brother's house backs up to a canyon full of it.

I will buy the little potted herbs. I fell for the cute pink seed packet.
Good to know rosemary should not be planted near the roses.

I planted a long row of rosemary to fill in the space between the fence along the road and the retaining wall that borders the road. It has become a maintenance problem the fence so among this spring's tasks will be removing all those now well-established rosemaries.

In the hillside field past the garden where I have been planting native trees and shrubs I keep finding self-seeded baby rosemary plants. I certainly did not plant them, and I need to pull them out as I find them.

Still, they charm me.

Rosefolly

Mauvegirl,

I grow rosemary with roses. My icebergs have been right next to Rosemary and they are both thriving. There are many varieties. I still had the image and nursery tag information for the variety I grow.

Lynn

The nursery tag for this variety.

I love 'Tuscan Blue'. It's an especially good flavor.

Cath

I love 'Tuscan Blue'. It's an especially good flavor.

Cath

Ours is real rosemay -- use it in cooking -- usually under the skin of a roasted chicken, frequently.

Odd, I've had rosemary all over the garden for years and never seen a single seedling. How lucky you Californians are.
You can grow rosemary and roses together if you keep them fairly dry. Of course the roses won't bloom so much in that case. Rosemary can take considerable wet in the winter if it's cool and it's not sitting in a hole. But as a true child of the Mediterranean it likes a dry summer.

The goal here is definitely deep watering. Nothing is water logged. My rosemary and roses are thriving under the same conditions. That could be due to the beauty of timed, and measured watering. They are watered at the same time (duration and intervals), but receive different measured amounts.

Lynn

In fact, one year I was too cheap/busy to get pine boughs for decorating before xmas dinner, and I used rosemary "boughs" instead along the stair rail and in the table centerpieces. What I got was a whole lotta comments as to how my place "smelled like the canyon -- yech"

Didn't do that ever again.

Here in the Pacific North Wet rosemary thrives. We have wet cool winters and dry cool summers. I have never noticed it growing from seed though.
Love it with pork on the Barbie or with roasted chicken. Not bad with roasted potatoes and carrots..Yummy.

deficienciesRosemary may prefer dry summers, but it does just fine here where I get as much as 50" of annual rain. If you set your conditions for roses, plant the rosemary, and it is a little less robust than it would be in ideal conditions that might actually work better for being a companion plant. Rosemary is also doesn't take offense at being clipped back if needed making it pretty easy to control.

I've got both the upright and the low creeping varieties in with my roses.

I've grown rosemary from seed. The packet claimed the seed had been specially treated for high germination. Probably 90% of the seed sprouted - way more than I expected or needed. I started it inside under lights. In a warmer climate I'd plant it in spring when other perennial seeds are planted.

I'm wondering if this might work:

Plant roses deeply into the soil, and add a very thick layer of organic mulch. Plant the rosemary in a much more shallow hole, only in the mulch. I'm thinking that if you keep a thick layer of bark-y mulch, that will provide the well-draining, lean conditions that the rosemary would prefer, as well as holding moisture down into the soil where the roses can get it.

Thoughts?

:-)

~Christopher

We bought this home and inherited tons of the spreading rosemary. It's neat and clean, and makes all the terraces look nice as it falls over and hangs down. It is always covered with blossoms and bees! In June the snails enjoy it. If I was brave enough to farm snails, and let them gnaw on Rosemary for 20 days, I could sell Escargo to local stores. I love Escargo, but only if someone else cooks it!!

There are many Roses growing among it. I don't even know what kind they are, but the roses don't seem to mind it.

After Thanksgiving I purchased a herb pot filled with Rosemary, Sage and Thyme. That is the upright Rosemary. They will all be planted in ground this spring. Now they are outside on a drip system in their pot.

Good luck with those seeds!!

Suzi