"Bill Spohn" wrote in message
...
We had an unusually cold day or two this winter (zone 8, bordering on 9)
when
it went down to -9 C.(it usually hovers around freezing or maybe 2 or 3
degrees
below).

I lost a large Rosemary bush, and I guess I had forgotten that it was a
bit
tender (others in less exposed locations came through without blinking).

Do people in less clement areas normally keep Roesmary as a pot plant?

I'm not sure what -9C translates to on the Farenheit scale, but I am also in
zone 8 (PNW) and we had a few lows this winter into the lower teens,
approximately 15-20 degrees below freezing. Rosemary should be perfectly
hardy in our areas even under those occasional unseasonal circumstances so
I'd guess that perhaps drainage is not as sharp as it could be. More often
than not in our mild climates, it is not the cold that kills plants but
winter wet rotting the root system.

FWIW, my 6 y.o. rosemary - 'Tuscan Blue' - came through the winter
unscathed, as did a number of marginally hardy (for our zone) plants like
Phormium, hebes, etc. I'd suggest you replace it with a very hardy cultivar
like 'Arp' or 'Hill Hardy' (zone 6), but make sure the soil is lean and the
drainage very good. And yes, rosemary does make an excellent container
plant, but it wants to grow large so select your container accordingly.

pam - gardengal