General Schvantzkoph wrote in message ...
On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 12:42:11 -0800, Mark wrote:

General Schvantzkoph wrote in message ...
On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 10:45:31 -0800, Mark wrote:

General Schvantzkoph wrote in message ...
On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 09:21:40 -0600, clc wrote:


"Mark" wrote in message
om...
My rosemary plant went from a spindly little sprig to a big woody bush
(14" across/high) over the course of the summer, despite frequent
trimming for various culinary exercises.

I have dug it up and put it into a pot with some of the soil from its
garden bed.

What is the best way to ensure a good watering level? The bed it was
in was well-drained, and we rarely watered the garden this year thanks
to frequent-enough rains. Inside, the atmosphere is going to be a lot
drier, and I wonder if there are any easy tips on making sure the
plant gets the right amount of water.

Any ideas?

Mark

Good luck with it - I tried bringing it in for 4 years and it was always
dead within a month. I think my conditions were just too dry...?

Cheryl

Same here. I've tried several times but they always die. I just buy new
plants every spring.


My hope is that I can find a trick that keeps a rosemary plant alive
for years. I remember seeing a huge "mother plant" in a nursery long
ago; it must have been 5-6' high, 8' across and it had a main stem
about 4" in diameter. The nursery evidently took cuttings from it to
propogate new plants.

Mark

Several questions, what part of the country? was it in a green house?, did
you ask them how they got it to survive long enough to get that size?

This was in central Kentucky, zone 6. At the time, I didn't think to
ask them how they managed to keep the plant alive from year to year,
but it was in a big greenhouse. I don't recall if the greenhouse was
heated...

Mark

Kentucky is pretty warm and if it's in a greenhouse the temperature is
going to be pleasent all year round. I'm not surprised that it survived
there, I'd expect that it would survive outside also. I live in New
England where we have real winters. I gave up trying to get rosemary to
survive from year to year. I've tried keeping it in a pot during the
summer and then bringing it in and I've tried transplanting it back
from the ground into a pot, it always dies. I just buy a couple of new
plants each spring and plant them in the ground and hope for the best.
Things planted in the ground here grow well without doing any work. We get
plenty of rain so I don't even water my plants, I just stick them in the
ground in May and then start to use it on my lamb chops from July until
the plants die. I do the same thing with spaghetti sauce herbs (oregano,
basil and thyme), I plant them in the spring and then make 5 gallons of
sauce at the end of August when the local farm stand starts selling cases
of tomato seconds. The oregano surrives the winter but the others don't.


Actually, Kentucky can get quite cold. The coldest I remember was
-17F, but that's unusual. We do, however, regularly get a few freezes
a year which go below 0F.

I tried last fall to construct a greenhouse over one of my raised
beds, but the PVC-and-plastic-sheeting approach literally fell apart
as soon as the winds topped 20 mph. I might build a small greenhouse
lean-to on the side of my garden shed for hardening off plants, but I
doubt it would do for wintering over anything.

Mark

In article ,
(Mark) wrote:

General Schvantzkoph wrote in message
...
On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 12:42:11 -0800, Mark wrote:

General Schvantzkoph wrote in message
...
On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 10:45:31 -0800, Mark wrote:

General Schvantzkoph wrote in message
...
On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 09:21:40 -0600, clc wrote:


"Mark" wrote in message
om...
My rosemary plant went from a spindly little sprig to a big woody
bush
(14" across/high) over the course of the summer, despite frequent
trimming for various culinary exercises.

I have dug it up and put it into a pot with some of the soil from
its
garden bed.

What is the best way to ensure a good watering level? The bed it
was
in was well-drained, and we rarely watered the garden this year
thanks
to frequent-enough rains. Inside, the atmosphere is going to be a
lot
drier, and I wonder if there are any easy tips on making sure the
plant gets the right amount of water.

Any ideas?

Mark

Good luck with it - I tried bringing it in for 4 years and it was
always
dead within a month. I think my conditions were just too dry...?

Cheryl

Same here. I've tried several times but they always die. I just buy
new
plants every spring.


My hope is that I can find a trick that keeps a rosemary plant alive
for years. I remember seeing a huge "mother plant" in a nursery long
ago; it must have been 5-6' high, 8' across and it had a main stem
about 4" in diameter. The nursery evidently took cuttings from it to
propogate new plants.

Mark

Several questions, what part of the country? was it in a green house?,
did
you ask them how they got it to survive long enough to get that size?

This was in central Kentucky, zone 6. At the time, I didn't think to
ask them how they managed to keep the plant alive from year to year,
but it was in a big greenhouse. I don't recall if the greenhouse was
heated...

Mark

Kentucky is pretty warm and if it's in a greenhouse the temperature is
going to be pleasent all year round. I'm not surprised that it survived
there, I'd expect that it would survive outside also. I live in New
England where we have real winters. I gave up trying to get rosemary to
survive from year to year. I've tried keeping it in a pot during the
summer and then bringing it in and I've tried transplanting it back
from the ground into a pot, it always dies. I just buy a couple of new
plants each spring and plant them in the ground and hope for the best.
Things planted in the ground here grow well without doing any work. We get
plenty of rain so I don't even water my plants, I just stick them in the
ground in May and then start to use it on my lamb chops from July until
the plants die. I do the same thing with spaghetti sauce herbs (oregano,
basil and thyme), I plant them in the spring and then make 5 gallons of
sauce at the end of August when the local farm stand starts selling cases
of tomato seconds. The oregano surrives the winter but the others don't.


Actually, Kentucky can get quite cold. The coldest I remember was
-17F, but that's unusual. We do, however, regularly get a few freezes
a year which go below 0F.

I tried last fall to construct a greenhouse over one of my raised
beds, but the PVC-and-plastic-sheeting approach literally fell apart
as soon as the winds topped 20 mph. I might build a small greenhouse
lean-to on the side of my garden shed for hardening off plants, but I
doubt it would do for wintering over anything.

Mark

Try one of these:

http://www.propools.com/products/pat...lowerhouse.htm

I bought the biggest one, the 8' x 8' and they are reasonably priced,
have a 3 year warranty and are FAR sturdier than they look!

A single 100 watt light bulb in a closed up one will keep it above
freezing for your plants for wintering over.

I bought 4 of them and have no regrets. :-)

K.

(Mark) wrote in message . com...
My rosemary plant went from a spindly little sprig to a big woody bush
(14" across/high) over the course of the summer, despite frequent
trimming for various culinary exercises.

I have dug it up and put it into a pot with some of the soil from its
garden bed.

This doesn't strike me as a good idea. Transplanting is a shock to any
plant, and best done when it is dormant. If your long term plan is to
move it between the indoors and the out by transplanting it twice a
year, I think you should change plans. Either put it in a big pot, and
move the pot, or find a variety that can overwinter outdoors in your
area. 'Arp' is supposed to be quite cold hardy.

There is some info about rosemary at my Web site:
http://www.efn.org/~bsharvy/edible.html . I'm not sure if it needs
chill hours. No need to worry about dry soil; like most herbs,
rosemary preres dry sandy soil.