NOTES from. the plant kingdom // rosemary

Ever fall in love with a plant? That's the way I feel about rosemary but all the more so for making the acquaintance of a cascading hedge of 'Prostratus' that made it difficult to keep away.

I love rosemary for its herbal prowess in the kitchen as a powerful aromatherapeutic herb but also the sheer resilience of this plant to survive anything you throw at it. Snow, rain, drought – those long slightly quilled pine needle-like leaves just keep shining green, while more often than not the pots of rosemary I have also bloom all year round too.

Who doesn’t like a stick of rosemary in their gin and tonic with which to add an extra note of camphor to the quinine bitterness? If you haven’t tried this, do so immediately, perhaps with an accompanying slice of grapefruit. I also love making rosemary oil for my hair, massaged into the scalp to help aid growth. I have also been known to make rosemary, honey, and gold leaf lollipops – I recipe I came up with for my The Heritage Herbal – which went down brilliantly with the boys. The powerful aromatic herb within the sweet candy with a flash of gold somehow made it regal.

But what I love even more is rosemary with a cascading habit. Salvia rosmarinus ‘Prostratus’ to be exact, with which to add the spiller element of a container (the filler, and thriller, being the other two parts of a well-potted hat trick). I have never seen a hedge of it before, however, and oh what a joy to brush against. The hedge in question was placed just below our balcony bringing morning scent to our room once doors were flung open, and positively inviting onlookers to dive in. We refrained but I have now made it one of my life aims to have a hedge like this. Maybe by the sea, exactly where it belongs, but if not then back in the snow and the rain where it hopefully would survive too. Hats off to whoever brought this specimen to such rude health.