"Jim Lewis" wrote in message
news:000901c33036$e87bcaa0$78112cc7@pavilion...
My fingers are tightly crossed. I dug up a good-size rosemary in
St. Petersburg 2 weeks ago now and brought it up here to N. Fla.
The articles on Rosemary bonsai that were pointed out to me or
sent (THANKS everyone! And Ed, page 11 [second page of the
article] seems to be missing???????) all note that one should
NEVER dig one in the "growing season," which this certainly was.
I had no choice, however.

They also imply that if problems arise, death is evident almost
immediately.

In my experience, if the roots have a problem arising from too much
water combined with somewhat lower temperatures, it wilts quite rapidly.
Since neither is true in your case, I think you're on the safe side.

Well, this one still looks OK.

I moved it from ground to large pot in less than 20 seconds and
got most of the rootball. It still is growing in the find sand
it was used to in St. Pete Beach.

Fine sand is fine. ;-)
The heat and the sun,... I think rosemary can take anything Fla can dish
out. Rain? Hm... just don't overwater and it'll be OK.

I'm hoping that it didn't
notice that anything happened. ;-)

It noticed alright. The change for the better. ;-) Will you post some
pictures to the IBC gallery?

Probably wishful
thinking, since there is near unanimity on the
don't-collect-in-the-growing-season dictum.

This is probably true for most of the plants.

I have seen rosemary cuttings made in the middle of summer and left
unattended until next spring (no extra watering, just what nature
provided - and that's not much in the Mediterranean) and the success
rate was over 75% (plausibly). I hear though, that transplanting
(already rooted plants) is more difficult. Strange, isn't it? All in
all, rosemary is one tough customer. ;-)

I cut it back a LOT.
It has 3 twisty two-inch trunks. If it survives it'll make a
nice three-trunk tree, but I may take it down to two trunks.

Thick trunks are not so common with rosemary. Especially with container
grown ones. So, do think before you cut.

Good luck!