2 weeks ago we had a lovely leg of lamb roasted with some of my
rosemary, that is in a pot by the back door. Today it is as dead as a
dodo. I had always assumed it was a drought tolerant plant, yet it looks
as though it has died from lack of water. Is that the most likely? I had
trained it up a bamboo cane, it was doing very nicely, thank you. Sad.
--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire

On 01/04/2012 11:49, Sacha wrote:
On 2012-04-01 11:36:42 +0100, Moonraker said:

2 weeks ago we had a lovely leg of lamb roasted with some of my
rosemary, that is in a pot by the back door. Today it is as dead as a
dodo. I had always assumed it was a drought tolerant plant, yet it
looks as though it has died from lack of water. Is that the most
likely? I had trained it up a bamboo cane, it was doing very nicely,
thank you. Sad.

Have you had a sharp frost a few nights running? They're more likely to
die of over-watering and poor drainage. We had a lovely white rosemary
we got from Olivier Filippi a few years ago but it died off in a tunnel
one winter, so I imagine they're less hardy. We had R. Montagnette.
I found it strange that it seemed to die almost instantaneously. Yes we
have had frosts every night last week, but as it has been there for over
2 years I am surprised that it has only just given up the ghost. So what
rosemary would you advise for flavouring in these climes?
--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire

On Sunday, 1 April 2012 11:36:42 UTC+1, Moonraker wrote:
2 weeks ago we had a lovely leg of lamb roasted with some of my
rosemary, that is in a pot by the back door. Today it is as dead as a
dodo. I had always assumed it was a drought tolerant plant, yet it looks
as though it has died from lack of water. Is that the most likely? I had
trained it up a bamboo cane, it was doing very nicely, thank you. Sad.
--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire

Common rosemary R.officianalis - bomb proof and dirt cheap in garden centres. There's also a lot of cultivars like Miss Jessop's upright.

Rod

Hi Moonraker, If youve had it there for 2 years, I'd almost certainly say that, yes, its died due to lack of water rather than cold !! Cut it down by half and theres a very faint chance that there might just be a spark of life left and it could come again but the chances are slim.
Lannerman.

On 02/04/2012 10:22, Sacha wrote:
On 2012-04-01 13:54:59 +0100, Moonraker said:

On 01/04/2012 11:49, Sacha wrote:
On 2012-04-01 11:36:42 +0100, Moonraker said:

2 weeks ago we had a lovely leg of lamb roasted with some of my
rosemary, that is in a pot by the back door. Today it is as dead as a
dodo. I had always assumed it was a drought tolerant plant, yet it
looks as though it has died from lack of water. Is that the most
likely? I had trained it up a bamboo cane, it was doing very nicely,
thank you. Sad.

Have you had a sharp frost a few nights running? They're more likely to
die of over-watering and poor drainage. We had a lovely white rosemary
we got from Olivier Filippi a few years ago but it died off in a tunnel
one winter, so I imagine they're less hardy. We had R. Montagnette.
I found it strange that it seemed to die almost instantaneously. Yes
we have had frosts every night last week, but as it has been there for
over 2 years I am surprised that it has only just given up the ghost.
So what rosemary would you advise for flavouring in these climes?

Hidcote and Miss Jessop's upright seem to be the most widely known. But
rosemary is a Med plant so it may well get through a couple of winters
and then succumb to another, harsher one. Plants (not just rosemary)
will sometimes manage to get through hard nights if the day time temps
come up a bit but if they're in the grip of cold or wet for a long time,
they'll keel over. There's a white one called Rosemary officinalis var
alba which is said to be one of the toughest and which may be the one
you had because it did last two years. It may be worth trying that again
but have some fleece handy to throw over it in winter. I've never grown
it, so I don't know what it will put up with or what it tastes like!
They vary a lot in hardiness so a herb specialist might be your safest
bet if you do some online hunting. Jekka McVicar is the best known but
there are several others. I'm wondering why you trained yours up a
bamboo cane? We just let ours do their own thing and one called Marenca
(not white!) is a flopping over the edge of a pot or wall type and very
attractive. It's survived several years here including the harder
winters of the last two years, so it might be worth considering, too.
It's very attractive, imo.
Thanks Sacha, I will have good look around. I trained it up a bamboo as
I thought it attractive, the next one I will allow to flop, just like me!

--
Residing on low ground in North Staffordshire